Finality
by NickStone22
Summary: Post Season 3 AU: Tony and Michelle. No prison, No pain and no divorce.As it should have been.
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Notes: **The following is an AU ending to Season 3. I wanted to write a story where Tony didn't go to prison for treason, the scenario here is one I believe to be plausible enough for the situation. _

_**Disclaimer:** Max Blake is the only original character, all others belong to 20th century fox and the 24 creators. _

**PART ONE:**

**Chapter 1- "Saunders' Ploy" **

Max Blake took a bottle of mineral water from the fridge and walked over to the table where he had set down his sandwiches and the book he had been reading. After taking a drink from the bottle, he started to read the next paragraph in his book, when he heard his cell phone ring. Max fished it from his pocket and put it to his ear. "Yes?" he said.

"Max, it's Stephen Saunders. I need you up here" came, the crisp suave British accent that had now become so familiar to Max.

"Fine Stephen, I'll see you in a minute" Max sighed closing his book up and downing as much of his water as possible. He picked up his sandwich took a large bite out of it, and chucked the remainder into the waste basket as he left the room. 

Max had been working for over two years with the group of Ukrainian scientists, who had engineered a level three pneumonic virus. Stephen Saunders had shown interest in buying the biological weapon and over the course of several months had been meeting with the scientists on a regular basis. Max's employers had assigned him to Saunders as a liaison about a fortnight ago. He had been following Saunders ever since. Today Stephen Saunders was planning to hold the United States to ransom by threatening to unleash the virus all over the country if his demands were not met. Max didn't like him much; he felt he was too unstable and unpredictable. Quite frankly, Max often worried for his safety around the disturbed Englishman in the event he said or did the wrong thing.

"I'm here Stephen what did you want?" Max asked as he walked into the room. 

Saunders turned around, his tall; six foot three form towered over Max, who was just over five foot five. He fixed Blake, with his deep dark, but frighteningly cold eyes.

"Ah, Max… Yes" Saunders began "I need you to go out and help me with something" he added.

Max couldn't help but be curious; there was something different about Saunders' tone, a little on edge, a little unsettled. This was unusual as Stephen was normally cold and detached and his voice often had no emotion at all. "Why was he sounding a little shaken now?"

"What is it you'd like me to do?" Max asked

"My daughter Jane has just called me, she's been held by Jack Bauer" Saunders informed him.

"And, what do you expect me to do about that?"

"Orstilind here has hacked the NHS database, he has managed to find out that Federal Agent Michelle Dessler, has been uninfected with the virus. She's going to have to leave The Chandler Plaza sometime within the next hour. When she does, I want her kidnapped."

"For what reason?"

"Jack Bauer and his band of Merry Men have discovered our location. He is in all likelihood on his way here now to take me into custody. Obviously, I can't allow that to happen. Dessler's husband is Tony Almeida, Director of CTU Los-Angeles. I intend to use his wife to coerce him into giving me an escape route. I also intend to use her to get my daughter back."

Max took a deep breath, he really didn't like where this was going. 

"Stephen, I've only been assigned to you as a liaison whilst you obtained the virus. I don't think I'm…" He was cut off by Saunders.

"Do you want to come back in and we can start this again?" Saunders said making sure to draw attention to the HK .45 he was holding.

"I'm sorry Stephen, I just don't know if I could do this for you" Max replied trying to not to let the fear creep into his voice. He was more convinced than ever now that Saunders was an unhinged maniac.

"Max, you can either leave here with the others and kidnap Agent Dessler, or remain here as a dead-man" Saunders growled, his eyes filled with aggression walking up to Max and placing the gun hard against his forehead. The subtle click of the safety being removed seemed to be thunderous to Max who was struggling to keep his terror in check. 

"I'm quickly running out of time. I need you, Kevin, Paul and Theodore here to leave immediately" Saunders said indicating to the three men stood in the room.

"Fine" Max replied. 

"Good! Now Go!" Saunders snapped in his cold tone.

Max joined the other three men, Kevin a Skin-Head with a pock marked face, Theodore an African-American and Paul a Sandy Haired German. 

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Michelle Dessler, the beautiful CTU agent who had been commanding a team inside the Chandler Plaza Hotel, stepped into the van provided by NHS. The relief she was feeling was overwhelming, she'd been one of the lucky 10 who had a natural immunity to the virus. She was on her way back to NHS and after 18 hours in quarantine she'd be able to go home to her beloved husband, Tony.

Michelle took out her cell-phone and sent Tony a text message

"Hey Sweetheart, I'm just leaving now to NHS. In 18 hours we can go home together honey. I love you with all of my heart, Curly-Head."

Michelle gave a slight smile as she ended the text message, using Tony's favorite nick-name for her. She pocketed her cell and closed her eyes, leaning back against the side of the Van. She felt worn out; this had undoubtedly been the worst day of her life.

Tony Almeida was in the break room at CTU, when he received the text message. He smiled to himself, and for a moment had to hold back some tears of joy that Michelle, or "Curly-Head" as he so loved calling her, was alive. Just then he was called back to the floor, Jack was getting ready to get in the helicopter and go to Saunders' hide-out. Tony took a final drink of Tea, pocketed his cell, and headed towards the bull-pen.   
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Max was getting very unsettled and restless. He didn't like this one bit. He didn't want to be part of a kidnapping. All of the time he had spent with Saunders, had made him question his resolve for this job. He was sat with Kevin, Theo and Paul; they were now parked in a Tahoe, outside the Chandler Plaza Hotel, waiting for Agent Michelle Dessler to leave.

They knew that she wasn't going to survive; Saunders was going to kill her if Almeida didn't co-operate, and even if he did would end up killing both her and Almeida once the exchange for his daughter had been made.

Max squeezed the bridge of his nose, trying to relieve some of the tension headache that was forming.

"That's the Van she's in" Kevin suddenly broke the silence.

"Then let's go" Theo replied.

Kevin started the engine and set off after the white-van that had just driven up the ramp from the Hotel's basement.

They followed it for some time, until it was the only other vehicle on a wide stretch of road. They floored the gas bringing the Tahoe up alongside the van and broad siding it.

The two men in the front of the NHS van were completely shocked as the Tahoe that had been following them for a while hit them full force. "Jesus Christ!!!" The driver yelled swerving to try and escape the Tahoe.

In the rear of the van the half a dozen or so people, including Michelle, who had left the Chandler Plaza Hotel were wondering what on Earth was happening.

"What's going on up there?" Michelle yelled towards the driver.

"Some crazy son of a bitch is ramming us!" the driver's companion answered.

Michelle knew that this wasn't good and reached behind her where she had her gun tucked into her pants. She was just checking the chamber when the van was hit again. The force of the jolt made Michelle lose her grip on her gun and it went clattering across the floor of the van.

This time the vehicle went careering of the road, hit a mail box and a fire hydrant, before smashing into a lamp-post and coming to a sudden stop.

In the Tahoe Saunders' men watched as the White NHS van ploughed across the sidewalk and hit the lamppost.

"Everyone out!!" Kevin yelled whipping out his Uzi machine pistol and clambering from the Tahoe.

"What the hell have you gotten yourself into Blake?" Max thought to himself, reluctantly taking out his Desert Eagle handgun as he clambered out of the back of the Chevy SUV.

"Come on, let's get the bitch and carry out Stephen's instructions" Kevin said to the others as they advanced on the wrecked van.

They approached it, Paul headed to the front and Kevin, Theo and Max headed to the back doors.

Paul opened fire through the driver's window, killing him and his colleague instantly. Blood and brain matter splattered onto the windshield and seeped down over the dash and steering column.

Inside the van people were becoming frantic and scared. Michelle looked at the man sat next to her, one of the hotel employees, who had lost his bladder from fright as the gunfire kicked off. Urine trickled from his leg and across the floor. 

"Easy, it's okay, everything's going to be alright" Michelle tried soothing him despite not being overly sure of it herself.

Suddenly the back doors flew open and daylight flooded in.

"Don't Move!!" Kevin bellowed. He climbed into the van, followed by Theo, who kept his gun trained on everyone. 

Kevin moved toward Michelle who was just reaching for her Glock 9mm underneath the opposite bench. She was just about to pick it up in her right hand, when Kevin stamped on her fingers. Michelle yelled with pain, and tried to counter attack with a ridge hand to Kevin's throat. However, Kevin just ducked in time and delivered a hard blow to Michelle's stomach knocking the wind out of her. "Don't try your luck, bitch!" Kevin snapped holding his Uzi in front her face.

He motioned to Theo to send everyone else out, and kept his own weapon trained on Michelle, who was now back in her seat, giving him a look of defiance, but terrified for her life underneath it all.

The others were all hurried outside the van and forced into a kneeling position. Kevin gave a silent nod to Theo, who proceeded to fire a single round into the back of each person's head.

"Paul, put the bodies into the Tahoe and take it to a secluded spot and dump it. Max, you help him load the bodies then come back here" Kevin shouted over to them.

Theo climbed back into the van and set down a black laptop bag. Opening the main compartment, he removed the laptop. He then proceeded, to open the side-pockets of the bag and remove a web-cam, a USB cable and a wireless router.

Michelle watched him, wondering what he was doing as he connected everything up.

By now Max had finished helping load the bodies into the Tahoe and Paul drove off with them. Max walked back to the van and climbed into it.

"You all done Theo?" Kevin asked.

"Yes" Theo replied. 

"What's the IP address?"

"257.211.16.5"

"Okay get that sent to Saunders, he'll need to ensure Almeida can see what we're doing."

Kevin turned his attention back to Michelle. "I'm going to have to search you." He said with a sly smile. He padded down Michelle, and removed her cell-phone. "Better check you haven't got anything hidden down here" he grinned as she slid his hand down the front of her pants.

Michelle cringed slightly at his intruding fingers, and felt the bile gather in her throat, yet still managed to keep the fear that was beginning to grip her from actually showing.

"Kevin that's not necessary" Max said watching his colleagues vulgar actions in disgust.

"Oh, I'm allowed to have some fun." Kevin said.

Just then his cell-phone went off.

"Yes?" He said.

"Is it done?" Saunders voice came over the line. 

"Yes"

"Hold the line."

Kevin turned to the others "It was Saunders. We need to prepare her"

Kevin walked back over to Michelle, he and Theo grabbed her roughly by the arms and walked her over to a chair in front of the laptop and webcam.

They pushed her into it, and Kevin kept his gun trained on her whilst Theo retrieved two ski-masks. He handed one to Max, and the other to Kevin.

"Go stand with Kevin" Theo ordered Max. "I'll be manning the video feed"

Max reluctantly went over to join Kevin, who immediately ordered him as well.

"Keep your gun trained on her, she's a feisty one! We can't be sure what she'll try."

Kevin reached down to his ankle and pulled out a knife. He held it against Michelle's throat.

He nodded to Theo "Is it transmitting?"

"Yes" Theo replied in the affirmative. "Saunders is just calling Almeida now"


	2. Chapter 2

_**Authors' Notes: ** The following chapter contains dialogue from the 8am-9am episode of Season 3, so credit for that goes to the original writers. Of course credit also goes to Reiko Aylesworth, Carlos Bernard and Paul Blackthorne who played the original scene so incredibly well. _

**CHAPTER 2: "An Agent's Breaking Point". **

The LA Counter Terrorist Unit was on the verge of dropping the net on Stephen Saunders. They had managed to track down his location by tracing the signal from his telephone conversation with his daughter Jane. Tony was stood next to Adam Kauffman, helping to run the comms part of the operation.

He heard his cell phone ring, and took it from his pocket.

"Almeida" Tony said robotically, so used to answering the phone that way by now.

"Listen to me very carefully, Agent Almeida" came a voice that Tony didn't recognize.

"Who is this?" Tony asked completely perplexed as to who may be calling him at such a critical juncture. His mind hadn't yet made the association between the British accent speaking to him and the man they were about to take into custody. That was at least until he got his response.

"It's Stephen Saunders. Before you make any tactical errors, I'd like to give you an update on the situation. "

Tony was still unsure of what was going on but nonetheless replied "I'm listening"

He listened carefully as Saunders casually informed him "I need you to move to a private area that has direct comm. with your teams on site here." 

Tony was now utterly perplexed "And why would I do that?" 

"Open a web socket to IP 257.211.16.5 and you'll find out. That's IP 257.211.16.5. Just trust me. Do it" Saunders took a pause before saying the next words "By the way, Tony, I'd like to offer you congratulations on your wife eluding infection from the virus."

Tony felt his heart begin to quicken, and a knot form in his stomach, something didn't seem right. "How do you know about my wife?"

Saunders smirked slightly before responding in his cold detached manner "Get on that site."

As Tony opened the socket, a video feed faded up onto the screen and he felt his blood run ice-cold. The video showed Michelle being held by masked men, a knife to her throat. Time seemed to slow to a standstill, until finally the terrible silence was broken

"I don't know exactly what they're doing to her Tony, but I did instruct them to leave her barely functional so we can return her to you" Saunders said as casually one might order a take away meal. His level of emotional detachment was a stark contrast, to the mixture of terror and fury that Tony was now feeling.

"I'll kill you, you son of a bitch. I'll rip your damn throat out, you hear me?" Tony hissed, trying to control his breathing as his emotions began to get out of control

Saunders just scoffed unfazed by Tony's outburst "I'm low on time, so I'm sorry if I brush past that remark, because in fifteen seconds Michelle will be dead if you don't do what I say. There are five agents watching the northeast exit of this building. Four on the ground and a sniper on the rooftop next door. I'm assuming they're operating as a single unit. I want you to give them a code 9, send them to the front entrance. Now." 

Tony's mind was racing, he wanted to save his wife, but he also wanted to do his duty. He tried to stall for time "Jack Bauer's running the operation; I don't have the authority to do that." Tony said the desperation and fear just beginning to show in his tone.

Saunders wasn't going to be deterred and responded matter of factly. "No authority? Really? Kevin is Michelle still conscious?"

"Yes" Kevin responded 

"Take an eye out"

Kevin brought the blade close to Michelle's eye, the tip just teetering in front of it. Michelle let out a gasp of terror, losing control of her fear for a moment. Tony watched in horror, and finally relented to Saunders' demands 

"No Wait Stop!!!" he screamed in distress.

"Kevin hold for a second" Saunders said a small smile of victory forming on his face.

Tony took a deep breath and started

"It's going to take me some…" Tony was cut off in mid sentence by the sound of gunshots coming over the line. He stopped for a second, completely confused.

Saunders was even more shocked than Tony. The sound of the gunfire had been so loud it had forced him to remove his Bluetooth headset momentarily. He put it back on and screamed into the mouthpiece "Kevin!! Kevin!!!"   
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In the back of the NHS van Kevin looked on bewildered at the sight of Theo being thrown back as bullets tore into his body. Kevin had taken the knife from in front of Michelle in the commotion and turned around to search for Max.

As Kevin turned to face him, Max fired another two shots into his chest. Kevin staggered back a little, and tried to draw his gun. Before he could do so, Max fired a final shot that slammed into the centre of Kevin's forehead. Kevin's lifeless body slumped against the corner of the van.

Max walked over and un-cuffed Michelle. He then picked up the Bluetooth headset that Kevin had been wearing and set it on his own head. 

"Saunders, your men are dead. You no longer have any leverage over Agent Almeida" Max said as he put an arm around Michelle, who was still slightly in shock and helped her walk towards the van doors. "I'd suggest you hand yourself over."

"Max? Is that you? If you re-consider your actions I can make it worth your while." Saunders replied, trying bribery having failed at blackmail.

"Saunders" Max replied.

"Yes?" Saunders said

"Go screw yourself!!"

Max, removed his ski mask, disconnected the line to Saunders, and opened one to Tony.

"Agent Almeida, your wife is safe. Send your men in to capture Saunders"

Tony had seen everything happen on the video-feed, and whilst being utterly bewildered at what had transpired, had a gut instinct that he could trust this man. Tony called Jack.

"This is Bauer" The gruff voice of the blonde haired head of field ops came over the line.

"Jack, it's Tony. Is Saunders coming out yet?"

"No, he hasn't responded to any of our call outs" Jack said in the same gruff tone.

"Then let's not waste anymore time." Tony suggested

"My thoughts exactly," Jack finished, closing the line "Gentlemen!! We're a go!"  
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Michelle sat next to Max, still scarcely believing what had happened. Even her highly intelligent, quick thinking mind felt a little overwhelmed by everything. Finally, she managed to speak "Who are you?"

"My name is Max Blake, I'm a Federal Agent" Max began.

Michelle looked at him in complete surprise.

"I'm with the CIA. I've been working undercover for over two years now, infiltrating former Soviet States who are manufacturing biological weapons." 

Max checked his watch before adding "Look, I can explain everything once we get you back to CTU. I know that everything must seem utterly confusing and difficult to comprehend, Michelle, and you're probably uncertain about whether I'm telling the truth. But I am hoping that you take me at my word. At least long enough for me to prove my story."

"If you're an agent, why did you let those men go so far" Michelle asked in a slightly accusatory tone.

"I am so sorry I didn't stop them sooner," Max said in genuinely apologetic tone. "I had to maintain my cover; this one threat may be architected by Saunders. However, the group of scientists I had infiltrated have many more clients on the books. The firm still wants me to give them info on that, or rather they did, I'm not sure I can go back now. However, my resolve was tested by everything Saunders has been doing. When his men threatened to gouge your eye out, I just couldn't take it anymore, I reached my breaking point." Max explained as best he could to Michelle. 

"Okay, I'll trust you," Michelle said tenuously before adding "For now, as it would seem I have little other choice." Her eyes were still busily reading Max's facial expressions and body language, still trying to determine whether or not he was being truthful.

"That's all I ask" Max replied and added "I promise Michelle; everything will become much clearer when we go through debriefing back at CTU."

By now they had walked well away from the NHS van. They hailed a Cab and headed towards CTU Los Angeles.   
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Stephen Saunders felt his eyes stinging and his throat burning, as the tear gas that several CTU agents had fired inside, dispersed around the room. He had tried to escape before the CS fumes had overwhelmed him and made him collapse to the floor. The gas was so strong that Saunders coughed and spluttered to the point where he vomited from the near asphyxiation.

At that moment several CTU agents, all wearing gas masks burst into the room. They plasti-cuffed his hands together and roughly dragged him to his feet. Jack Bauer met Saunders as he came out from the building.

"Long time no see, Jack" Saunders said, fixing on Jack an intense look of hatred. "Looks like you got out of Kosovo alright. Even if the rest of us didn't" he finished and for a moment his eyes showed sadness, despair and anguish.

Jack blinked and looked, away before turning his attention to the agents holding Saunders. "Put him in the van." 

He got onto his cell and called CTU.

"Almeida" Tony answered.

"It's Jack. Saunders is in custody" Bauer informed him, watching as Saunders was pushed to his knees by the agents who had grabbed him.

Soon Jack and the others were leaving the warehouse, but they weren't going to CTU just yet. Jack had a plan to break Saunders.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3: "Debriefing"  
**  
Tony was talking to some CTU personnel when he heard the doors into the bullpen buzz. He turned around to see Michelle walking in.

"We'll finish this up later" he said to the two techs that he had been talking too, who headed back to the bull-pen. The corridor was deserted; it was only the two of them. Tony felt as though he was rooted to the spot, he had come so close to losing her that day, twice. He felt like she was a mirage, that she wasn't real. Part of him thought that if he let her come to him, then she wouldn't suddenly vanish as she might if he were to try to run to her.

Michelle saw her husband and ran towards him. She so desperately wanted to hold him, and for him to hold her. It seemed like it took an eternity to cross the short distance separating them. Tony grabbed her in his arms and lifted her off her feet. He placed several light kisses all over her lips as he held her and then a deep passionate one when he placed her feet back onto the floor.

"Baby, you're alive," Tony said through streams of tears. "I thought that I'd lost you forever." He kissed her again and pulled her even tighter against him. Nuzzling his face in the crook of her neck, he took in her sweet smell which was soothing to him, as he ran his fingers through her curls.

"I thought I'd lost you too." Michelle replied, kissing his temple. Tony turned to look into her eyes. "Look I'm..." he was cut off by the sound of someone clearing their throat

"Err, umm, sorry to interrupt," Chloe spluttered, clearly feeling awkward at having caught them in a fairly private moment. "Jack managed to get Saunders to surrender the codes to locating all 11 vials. We need you on the floor to help run the operation to contain them." she added in her typically precise, matter of fact tone. Chloe was just turning away, when she stopped "And um… I'm pleased that neither one of you lost the other." Feeling immensely awkward now, she crossed her eyes and spun around to head for the bull-pen.

Tony and Michelle giggled slightly to each-other. Chloe might have an irritating personality at times, but they really liked her.

"So what were you going to say? Can it wait?" Michelle asked Tony, smiling a little more now that the reality of her survival was sinking in.

"Yeah Curly-Head, it can wait" Tony replied burying his face into the crook of her neck and then kissing her lips one last time.

Then they smiled at each-other and headed for the bull-pen. 

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It was three hours later, and everyone was gathered in the situation room. The vials of the virus had been tracked down and contained and now it was time for the debriefing.

"Everyone may I have your attention," Tony began. "Okay the first thing to discuss is the situation with the outbreak here in Los Angeles, Adam?" 

Kaufman stood and started up a presentation. "The outbreak in the Los Angeles area has been brought under control by NHS. All infected areas have been put under quarantine and NHS officials in NBC suits are going around from house to house testing for the virus." Adam loaded up another slide

"This Wal-Mart has become the scene of an outbreak. One of the patients, who was in the hospital waiting room with Bill Cole, has a daughter. The mother passed the virus on to the daughter. The daughter then got together with a friend to study, she sent the friend to the store to get some snacks. It was whilst at the store that the friend became symptomatic and the outbreak began." Adam finished the presentation before adding "For the most part however, we were able to act quickly enough and the outbreaks have been fairly isolated." He sat back down and closed his eyes, for a few minutes, trying to clear his mind of the images of his sister, Sarah, having to take a suicide capsule to avoid the agony of dying from the virus.

"Adam," Michelle said softly, leaning over and squeezing his hand "If you want to go home, do so. I'm sure anything pertinent that comes up, can be left in a report for you when you get back. You should go and be with your family. I can only imagine what you must be feeling right now." She continued to hold his hand awaiting a response.

He finally managed to respond "Thank you Michelle, I think I'll do that." Adam gave her a slight smile, before turning towards Tony "If that's alright with you." Tony placed a hand on his shoulder and said "It's fine man, go home to your family." With that Adam excused himself and left the room.

"Okay, Jack" Tony stated to get the briefing back in order "could you please tell us about how the vials were secured?"

"Well, first off, we had Jane Saunders taken over to the Chandler Plaza Hotel" Jack began. "I threatened to…" he was cut off by the intercom buzzing.

"Agent Bauer, Agent Almeida, Brad Hammond is here with some personnel from Division. He'd like to sit in on the briefing."

Jack turned to Tony who rolled his eyes but nodded that it was okay with him

"Okay Chandra, send him in" Jack told the woman on security.

Brad Hammond walked into the situation room a minute later.

"I'm here to listen in on this briefing, sorry I'm late but there was a backlog of protocols at Division. Please, continue" he said after sitting down.

"As I was saying, I had Jane Saunders brought to the Chandler Plaza. I threatened to put her in the building if Saunders didn't surrender the codes for locating the vials" Jack paused

"Did Saunders comply?" Hammond asked.

"Yes, he did. The agents that I had asked to drag Jane into the building, were just about to open the doors before he finally broke," Jack answered. "He gave us the codes. We then used the codes to trace the vials. Our agents across the country intercepted the couriers and disarmed the vials they had been carrying. "

"Jack," Michelle said "Could you run us through what happened with Arthur Rabens" she inquired. 

"Yes, certainly" Jack answered. "Arthur Rabens had the final vial and was tasked with releasing it here in Los Angeles. It is believed he was headed for the LA Convention Center." Jack brought up some data on the courier. "Chase and I lead a team to capture him. We were able to grab him just as he was attempting to get onto the subway." Jack brought up another slide showing pictures of the vial. "We managed to disarm the vial with the help of CTU San Francisco. This was because the wiring was different from the other dispersal devices. We needed to give them time to consult their information on which wires to cut, to stop the vial from being set off" Jack finished up his slide show "We have now successfully stopped the virus from being set off everywhere other than the Chandler Plaza."

Michelle stood to debrief people on the operation at the Hotel.

"Upon arrival at the Chandler Plaza. We set up quickly and I searched the basement. I engaged in hand to hand combat with Marcus Alvers. I disarmed and handcuffed him. Upon in interrogation, we learned that he had placed the vial in the building's central ventilation unit" Michelle began; suddenly she felt the fatigue and emotions beginning to catch up with her. She paused took a deep breath before continuing. "Gael attempted to disarm the vial; however, it went off as he was doing so. Gael was the first to be infected." She took another deep breath, and a drink of water. But she found it too much. "Can you please excuse me for a few minutes, I just need some air."

"Oh, Please," Hammond began in his usual sarcastic, condescending tone. "Stop, sniveling, Dessler, and get on with your dam briefing." 

"What the hell did you just say to my wife?!!" Tony snapped giving Hammond a look of death.

"How dare you speak to me like that Almeida," Hammond responded angrily "I'll have you removed from the meeting if I have to."

Everyone watched as the two glared at each other across the table. Finally, Jack spoke.

"Okay, everyone calm down." He looked round the room to ensure everyone was listening "I think we could all use 10 minutes or so to rest up. We'll continue the briefing then." Everyone left the room except for Tony and Michelle.

"Oh Tony, I appreciate you standing up for me," Michelle began "But, baby, you won't do yourself any favors talking to Hammond like that." She smiled sweetly at him, before pressing her lips to his. 

"I know, it's just, with everything you've been through today, it's disgusting of him to treat you like that." Tony, who was clearly seething, responded. Michelle kissed him again, and he started to calm down a little.

"Sweetheart, I'm okay." She started "Brad is a jerk. Saying things like that is just his way. He meant nothing personal by it." She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close.

"Okay, I guess you're right" Tony smiled.

"Of course I'm right" Michelle grinned. "Now come on let's go and get some coffee, whilst there's still time" She kissed him again, and lead him towards the break-room. 

Later they were all gathered again for the rest of Michelle's briefing. She stood and began where she had left off previously.

"Gael Ortega was the first to be infected. I moved him into isolation. Not long after that a hotel employee who had discovered Gael in the basement, set off the fire alarm." She brought up the picture of the hotel employee in question, before continuing. "Many of the guests came down into the lobby; they were suspicious and anxious. When I had to go and deal with the same staff member who had tripped the fire alarm, trying to get out of the building, one of the guests became symptomatic." Michelle took a deep breath again, drank some water and continued. "This caused a major panic to ensue. During the commotion a hotel guest, one, Daniel Knight, smashed an outside window in an attempt to leave the building." Again Michelle paused "I had no choice but to shoot him dead."

Everyone around the room was a little stunned, up until that point only Tony had known what Michelle did. They all trusted her enough not to ask if it was the right call but that didn't mean they weren't shocked at the thought of it.

Michelle continued with rest of her briefing. Soon it was Max's turn to speak, and explain what he had done to help Michelle.

"Hello everyone," he began. "I'm federal agent Max Blake. I have been working undercover for the CIA in order to infiltrate former Soviet States who have been manufacturing biological weapons. I was sent by a group in the Ukraine to act as a liaison to Stephen Saunders, a terrorist who was interested in purchasing a virus from them. I met several times with Michael Amador and Marcus Alvers, the men chosen to make the exchange. I set up the meeting with the pair and Saunders that took place about an hour before the Chandler Plaza Hotel was hit..."

Max was interrupted by Brad Hammond. "If you knew about the Chandler Plaza attack, why the hell you didn't do something" He sniveled.

"I didn't know about the Chandler Plaza Hotel until the last minute." Max replied

"I find that hard to believe." Hammond snapped back.

"Look, Saunders was a professional. He didn't tell anyone person everything; he made sure that each person knew enough to be of use to him, but nothing further" Max replied calmly.

"I'd be inclined to agree with Max" Jack spoke up. "When I interrogated Saunders earlier, he had all the codes for tracking the vials memorized. He had no record of it anywhere and was the only person who had that knowledge. He knew how to keep information leaks to a minimum. Stephen worked with British Intelligence remember? He's a professional. " Jack made sure his words sank in.

"I'd agree also," Michelle added "Marcus Alvers, knew how many vials there were, however, he didn't know anything about the destination of the others. Saunders operated efficiently, on a strict need to know basis. That much is clear from what we've gathered today." 

Hammond was a bit taken aback by the agents and just stayed silent whilst Max continued. "Saunders always kept a close eye on me and monitored all communications. It was far too difficult to send anything major. Besides which, all I knew was that he was going to hit somewhere, therefore, without knowing specific information and being under such significant restrictions of communication, I couldn't possibly have given a warning of hit on the Chandler Plaza Hotel in time."

"Now, I've heard reports that Saunders had Agent Dessler kidnapped, and you rescued her." Hammond started. 

"Yes, Saunders had Michelle kidnapped and I saved her life." Max replied as he relayed what had happened until finally reaching the part where Saunders had tried to coerce Tony into giving him an escape route.

Upon hearing this Hammond glared across the table at Tony, who was trying to remain composed after Max's briefing described what had happened to Michelle.

"And just how in the hell did you respond Tony?!!" Hammond roared. "We all know you're a little too attached to her so I could imagine your response was a little less than professional."

Max watched as Hammond continued to glare at Tony, who was trying to think of an answer, fatigue and the stress of the day begin to wear him down. 

"I neutralized Saunders' men before Tony had time to respond at all" Max eventually said.

"Just to save one agent's life?" Hammond asked condescendingly.

"No of course not," Max replied remarkably calmly for someone having to deal with the detestable Brad Hammond. "I knew that you had Saunders surrounded and that he was trying to get Tony to give him an escape route. Now, Tony may have complied, or he might have sacrificed his wife. There was no way to be sure. I made the decision that it was better for me to neutralize the leverage that Saunders had. In doing that, I could ensure that Saunders was captured; if I hadn't it might have been the case that Agent Almeida allowed him to escape. I'm sure that Agent Almeida would have done his duty, however, given the magnitude of the situation, I just couldn't take the risk either way, so I intervened."

Brad Hammond was not happy at how much sense Max's explanation made. He just sat there muttering under his breath.

Soon the debriefing was over and it was time to head home. Hammond stood up without even excusing himself, walked out of the room, and headed back to Division. Max gave a curt nod to Tony and Michelle before heading out as well. Tony wanted to thank him for saving Michelle but that could wait until they came back in 48 hours. Everyone was utterly exhausted after the really long day.

All Tony wanted to do was to take Michelle home and snuggle up with her. He had come terrifyingly close to losing her twice in the one day and he needed to hold her, to have a tactile reminder that he still had her. In fact, never before had he felt such an overwhelming need to be reassured by her presence. He also wanted to hold her and comfort her, to run his hands up and down the bare skin of her back soothingly, the way she always loved him to. He could only imagine what she'd been through today and it would soon take its toll on her.

Michelle was exhausted, and close to breaking down. She wanted to get home so that it would just be her and Tony; she didn't feel comfortable showing such emotion anywhere but at home with her husband. Michelle felt an enormous sense of relief wash over her as they walked out of the building and got into their SUV. Today had been too much for her; she didn't ever want to have to go through such angst and torment again. She was now suddenly very keen on the idea of resigning as a Federal Agent and becoming a regular civilian.   
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Both Tony and Michelle knew that today had been the biggest test of their love they'd ever had to endure; each had come close to losing the other. Today would leave a legacy on them that would never be forgotten and would have repercussions for a significant amount of time in the near future. However, they had survived and were still there for each other. They were thankful for that. Their love was strong and unrelenting, their relationship had started when they found comfort in each other during angst and tragedy, so could most certainly survive it.

As they stepped out of their SUV and headed toward the house, words were not necessary, silent communication was enough. They looked into each others eyes and then hand in hand, walked into their home.


	4. Part 2 Chapter 1

**Authors Notes: **_Thanks for all the reviews so far. This was an idea that I've had for a long time, and has been through many drafts, until I got a scenario that I felt made the most sense. I'm pleased that the way in which Tony was spared prison came over as plausible and believable as I had hoped. I hope you enjoy this next chapter as much as the first three. _

**PART TWO:**

**Chapter 1: "Emotions Running High"**_**  
**_  
The Almeidas walked into their living room and Michelle ditched her Pearce onto the Coffee Table. Tony walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her hourglass waist "Hey, you okay?" he asked softly. Michelle turned to face him and pulled his lips to hers for a tender kiss. "As well as can be expected I guess" she replied, giving him a small smile.

"I'll go and make us a quick bite to eat" Tony said before heading to the kitchen.

Michelle took a seat on the couch and closed her eyes. Suddenly all the images from the past day came flooding back. Finding out Tony had been shot, Tony in surgery, their arguments when he returned to CTU, the moment she realized the virus had been released at the Chandler Plaza. She saw, vividly, all of the guests and hotel employees who became infected and either died in agony or took a suicide pill. She had flashbacks of her own kidnapping and the other survivors being slaughtered in front of her.

Finally, Michelle just couldn't keep it together any longer and began to sob. She brought her knees up to her chest and rocked back and forth as she cried. Almost instantly she felt Tony's arms wrap around her and pull her close to him.

"Shh… It's okay Baby, I've got you" he whispered softly into her ear. Tony slid his hand underneath her shirt and caressed the bare skin of her back in slow, soothing circles. Michelle pressed even further into him, taking comfort in his strong, loving embrace.

"I just can't stop thinking about everything that happened today, all those poor people in that hotel, Gael, Mr. Phillips, all of them. They all died in agony, so many lives just wasted, because of one bitter twisted sociopath." Michelle took a few moments before continuing. "I'll never forget having to watch what those people went through. It was like Hell in there, the screams, the sights, the smells. Those images will stay with me forever." Michelle had stopped crying by this stage, and for the first time in all of the time he had known her, particularly all of the years they had been together, Tony could see that her eyes were empty and had lost their sparkle, never had he seen her so affected by her work.

The somber silence was broken as Michelle continued "There was a family there, a man, a woman and their two kids. The kids were the type that hated taking pills, when they started showing symptoms, their mother had to hide the suicide capsule inside a candy bar, the way she would always give them their medicine. The poor woman had to kill her own children, to prevent them from suffering and had to pretend she was just giving them some chocolate to make them 'feel better'. They died in her arms their young lives cut so terribly short." 

Michelle needed a few moments to calm herself. Tony caressed her all the while, his tender displays of affection soothing her more than anything else.

Eventually, Michelle started yet again. "It wasn't long after that when Mr. Phillips died. I remember the look on his face when I told him that he couldn't speak to his wife. He just wanted to hear her voice and I had to refuse. After all that help he had given me, I denied him his chance to speak to his wife one last time. I hated myself for that, especially as I got the chance to talk to you and tell you how I felt. I felt like a hypocrite and so guilty because of it."

Michelle just sat quietly staring into space. Tony pulled her into him, lifted her chin, and lightly kissed her lips, only then did he reply. "Sweetheart, you only did what you had to. That order to keep things quiet came straight from the Whitehouse; you were only following protocol. You can't torment yourself over something that you had no control over."

Finally Michelle spoke again. "Do you want to know what I thought about the most when I was in that Hotel not knowing if I'd survive?" she asked him looking into his eyes.

"Go on" Tony whispered encouragingly, placing a feather light kiss on her forehead.

"Of course, I was terrified of how I'd die in agony; I knew the pathology of the virus. But most of all I thought about how you would feel when I was gone. I couldn't help but think of how devastated, distraught and heartbroken you'd be." Michelle paused for a few seconds, and took a deep breath; finally Tony's gentle touches and whispers of encouragement gave her the strength to continue. "I hated that, to think of me being the cause of such torment and despair. You've changed so much since we've been together; you're happier; you're more full of life, more content. That's the way I always want you to be. It was agonizing to me to think that losing me would cause you pain, after being so happy with me for the past three years." She began to cry again and settled even further into her husband.

Tony knew exactly what she was talking about, because he had been terrified and distraught at the thought of having to go on without her. The past three years had changed him completely. He had become besotted with Michelle very quickly. It was less than two months of dating before he realized beyond doubt that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. The intensity of his love and adoration for her was overwhelming. She was very much the centre of his world, his reason for living. Tony was certain that had he lost her, he wouldn't have been able to go on. People said that a bereaved person, could with time, pick up the pieces and move on with their life. But, Tony knew that would never be true in his case. It might be clichéd but he knew that he would eventually die of a broken heart and loneliness without Michelle. That was if he hadn't already taken matters into his own hands and ended his suffering somehow.

They sat together in silence for several minutes. Tony had his arms around Michelle, and continued to stroke her back as he held her.

Finally, Tony began to tell Michelle everything he had been feeling as well. "Sweetheart, all I could think about was you, in that godforsaken place, dying in agony. I just thought about how terrified you must have been. It was the most distressing experience of my life, to think that I couldn't even be there with you, that I couldn't comfort you. I thought about how you'd die alone despite my promises that I'd never let that happen." He was now crying as well and it was Michelle's turn to comfort him.

Once again Michelle found the courage to speak "Something else that kept bothering me was how I could have died, and the last few hours we spent together, we were angry at each other" she said softly, her head hung low and eyes transfixed at a spot on the floor. "It was awful to think that we may never have had a chance to make up." 

"I know, I thought about that too." Tony replied "I hated the fact that I might never have gotten a chance to tell you how sorry I was for being such a jerk." He lifted Michelle's chin, and tenderly kissed her soft full lips. "But I'll apologize now. I'm really sorry sweetheart; I had no right to treat you like that." Tony whispered.

Michelle smiled at him, and pressed a finger to his lips "Shh…it's okay now. I know you're sorry and I forgive you. Everything that's happened puts that silly little argument into perspective. So please let's not bring it up again." She kissed him passionately, and then rested her head on his chest.

After a long while of remaining silent, but reassuringly cuddling each other, Michelle just sat shaking her head. "Why do we even bother Tony, Why?" she asked her voice fully of uncertainty, confusion and anguish.

"Why do even bother with what?" Tony asked, despite knowing full well what she was referring to, he just wanted to allow her to get it all out.

"This job" Michelle replied, "we think that we're making this huge difference, but really we're not. We stop one terrorist threat and there's another one to take his place. No matter what we do to these people, it's no deterrent. Others will just keep doing the same things regardless." She just sat there, her eyes showing the despair and turmoil she was feeling. "I just don't think, I'm cut out for this anymore, honey, I love my country and want innocent people to be protected, but enough is enough."

At this revelation, Tony was feeling a mixture of emotions; he knew full well that Michelle was telling him she didn't want to work for CTU anymore. He wasn't entirely surprised she was feeling this way after what she'd been through, but at the same time, he was quite shocked at her sudden change of heart. He wouldn't have thought as they'd left for work 36 hours ago that she'd be considering resigning as a federal agent when they got back. She was passionate and patriotic. She was dedicated to her job, a great deal more, Tony had to admit, than he himself was. It had always been one of the things he found attractive about her, her strong and passionate beliefs.

There was a Part of him that was pleased at this news, for whilst he also loved his country and felt a strong desire to help defend it , in all truthfulness, Tony had always known that if Michelle wanted them to leave that world behind, he would do so in a heartbeat, without a moment's hesitation. He'd felt that way more and more, since they had gotten married, perhaps even from the moment they realized their relationship was getting serious. Tony loved and cared for Michelle more than anything else in the world, she was his life, everything else was secondary. It would seem that that day had finally come, and there was a part of Tony that was glad it had.

Another side of him wished this day hadn't come, he hated the idea that it had taken something so traumatic to make Michelle want to become a regular civilian and leave their current life behind. If he could turn the clock back and not only ensure Michelle never went through of any the hell she had in the past 24 hours, but also that this moment never came, Tony would gladly do it. He'd rather continue at CTU with her never having gone through this hellish day, than leave the place because of it.

Finally, after almost 2 hours sat on the couch discussing what had happened, the Almeidas stood and headed in the direction of the kitchen, the food that Tony had been in the middle of preparing had long gone cold. To save having to microwave it for a second time, they decided instead to order some Chinese food. Once it arrived, they ate in silence, enjoying the peace, all the while maintaining eye contact and occasionally holding hands across the table. Eventually, they were done stood, and headed hand in hand to the shower.

As they stood together in the shower, Tony lovingly massaged the tension from Michelle's neck and shoulders. Before they turned in, Tony got Michelle to lie down on the bed and gave her a rub-down with her favorite body lotion. He enjoyed this immensely, feeling and touching every part of her was comforting. Tony knew he was lucky that he was still able to show her such tender affection.

Michelle found it to be wonderfully calming; the sensation of her husband's hands all over her relaxed her both physically and mentally. For a few moments she was able to focus entirely on his tender caresses, not the events of the past 24 hours, not the thoughts of how close she came that day to dying or losing him. Not even the many questions already cropping up in her mind of what she and Tony could do once they became regular civilians, just Tony's loving and pleasurable touches.

After several minutes of tender caresses and passionate kisses the pair finally wriggled underneath the covers and Tony spooned Michelle into him.

"Oh, my precious 'Chelle, I love you so very much" he whispered softly, kissing her forehead.

"I love you too, Tony, with all of my heart, goodnight sweetheart" Michelle replied, returning the kiss.

"Goodnight Curly-Head. Sweet dreams baby."

As they lay snuggled up under the quilt, Michelle realized that Tony was holding even tighter than normal, obviously relishing in the fact that he could still do so.

Tony enjoyed being able to have Michelle in his arms as they slept, it was a pleasure he had thought he would never again experience. He loved her so very much, that was never more clear than it was today. 

Eventually, Tony saw that his beloved wife had finally fallen asleep, he watched for several minutes, as he always would, in awe of her beauty, as her breasts would slowly rise and fall with her breathing, her reddish brown curls spread all over the pillow. He loved to do this, every night since they first slept together, and after having come so close to losing her forever, he was dammed if he wouldn't do it tonight despite his exhaustion.

After almost half an hour of watching over her, Tony could see that Michelle was finally in a deep sleep. He was glad to see she was resting and peaceful, although he knew that it was the exhaustion more than anything else that allowed her to do so. It would be a while  
before she could truly sleep soundly. The nightmares from her ordeal would last a while, and it would take some time for Michelle to deal with the aftermath of her time in the Chandler Plaza.

However, Tony knew he would be there for her, he'd support her and with time they'd be back to normal.

Finally, when he was sure that Michelle was truly content; Tony nuzzled closer into her and fell asleep himself.


	5. Part 2 Chapter 2

_**Author's Notes: **__Thanks for the reviews everyone, I'm sorry that it's been ages since I updated, but I've been really busy lately. As ever the only character that I own is Max Blake, the rest belong to the 24 creators, 20__th__ Century Fox etc…_

**Part Two:**

**Chapter 2:**_**"Aftermath"**_

The following morning Tony and Michelle were still entwined in one another's arms. Tony woke first and just watched over Michelle for several minutes whilst she slept. Gently he stroked her bare back and ran his fingers through her hair. Eventually Michelle began to stir and opened her eyes.

"Hey" she whispered softly to him.

"Morning, Sweetheart" Tony replied placing a light kiss on her forehead.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"9:00 a.m." Tony answered, sitting up against the head-board to make room for her to snuggle up closer to him. Without hesitation Michelle curled up against him, her whole body pressed against his. Tony wrapped his arms around her petite frame and kissed her head. He could see that Michelle had a far away and empty look in her eyes. He knew that she was lost in thought about the previous day and so he gently caressed her back before softly asking "What's on your mind?"

"Just thinking about my team and how they're all dead now" Michelle replied.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I just can't help but feel overwhelming guilt for what happened to them. I know I never gave an order to go into that hotel; they had a choice on whether or not to join me. But that doesn't make me feel any better. I still feel horrible that going into that hotel without NBC suits was my idea but they were the ones who died and I was the one to survive" Michelle softly whispered.

"I know it's tough sweetheart, but you are not to blame. They wouldn't have gone in if they didn't want to. They were all heroes and knew the risks when they went into that Hotel, but they also knew that it was a chance to save hundreds if not thousands of people." Tony tried reassuring Michelle, making sure that he never stopped showing her affection whilst he did so, as that would help to calm her and alleviate some of the anxiety she was feeling.

"I know all that and ultimately I know what they did saved so many because it allowed us to be there and control the outbreak. However, that doesn't make it any easier, at least not entirely." Michelle nuzzled closer to her husband, who kissed the top of her head.

"Sweetheart, it will get easier with time. It's so much for you to deal with right now and you will probably need therapy to help you through it, but you will get through it. I'll always be here to help you baby" Tony whispered encouragingly.

Michelle gave a small smile at that and kissed her husband lightly on the lips. She wriggled from his embrace and sat up. "How about breakfast sweetheart?" she asked softly kissing him once again.

"I'll go make it now; you just sit and relax for a while" Tony replied, bringing her lips to his for a deep, passionate kiss. "I love you Curly-Head" he added, his eyes and voice filled with pure love.

"I love you too Babe" Michelle replied, now feeling relatively happy, at least the happiest she had felt since everything had kicked off two days ago.

Soon the pair was enjoying breakfast together. It was another half and hour or so where they just relaxed, enjoyed the peaceful silence, and relied on non-verbal forms of communication.

Tony and Michelle spent most of the day snuggled up with one another, watching some DVDs and talking. Sometimes they'd talk about the events of the previous two days, but most of the time they avoided the subject because even though it was good to get some of it out, they were also aware that dwelling on it too much could prove to be as bad as bottling it all up. The next day, they would have to return to CTU and then they'd have little choice but to confront the consequences and the aftermath of the previous two days, so any respite from it was very welcome.

The next day, the Almeidas walked back into CTU. To their dismay Brad Hammond was standing in the bull-pen. Tony and Michelle really didn't want him there today, they had to approach the subject of their intentions to resign from working as Federal Agents, both of them knew that having to deal with him in person would make it a whole lot worse. The guy had always hated the fact they were together, as he proved during the de-briefing two days earlier. They walked hand in hand towards Tony's office, and almost immediately, true to form Hammond decided to make a comment about it.

"Agents Almeida and Dessler" he snapped in a tone loud enough for just about everyone around to hear. "Quit with the affection, this is a government agency not a school prom."

He glared over at them before continuing "Tony get to your office and begin debriefing the White House on everything you know on the sting operation. Dessler get started on a debrief to Langley about the Chandler Plaza and if you could do it with a little less blubbering this time, it would be appreciated." He finished his tone as condescending and sarcastic as it always was.

Michelle could feel Tony tensing up and clenching his fists. As he made a move to advance on Hammond, who had now turned his attention back to what he had been previously doing, Michelle put her arm out to stop him.

"Tony don't" Michelle whispered low enough so only her husband could hear "he's not worth it." She paused for a moment and looked into his eyes, just long enough to make sure her words had sunk in, Tony had a habit of acting on his emotions, especially when it came to her, so Michelle wanted to make sure that he wasn't about to attack Brad Once she was sure Tony was calm, she continued. "I get the feeling we'll be too busy to see each-other today, so I'll see you tonight….I love you" She gave his hand a gentle squeeze and they went their separate ways.

As Michelle walked towards her office, Hammond called to her. "Dessler, get over here now."

"Yes Brad?" she asked trying to keep her tone polite despite how much she hated him and wanted to do exactly what Tony had been considering herself.

"You'll be reporting to me today. I want updates on your debrief every fifteen minutes, in person" Brad continued.

"Fine."

"And I want it finished by this afternoon, so that means you have no coffee breaks, no lunch. You put the adolescent rendezvous with lover boy on hold for once and sit at your desk until I give you permission to leave. I'll come over to you for your updates."

Michelle was just about to respond when another voice spoke up. "Hammond that won't be necessary" Michelle turned to see Max walking towards them. "I'm authorized to act as a liaison between CTU and Langley; the director requested I get the debrief from Agent Dessler." Max finished now standing with Michelle and Hammond. For A few seconds they all just stood in silence, Hammond glaring intensely at Max. Max then continued "Director Breslin wants you to submit a report on a plan for re-staffing the CTU personnel to replace those lost at the Chandler Plaza and other related incidents two days ago."

"What?" Hammond snapped "I'm not doing some trivial admin work. You sort it out Blake; I'm debriefing Dessler." As he turned away to get his things, Max grabbed Hammond's arm and spun him around to face him again. "Whether you like it or not, I outrank you. The Director's request comes as an order to me, and that dam well means it comes as an order from me to you!" Blake looked at Hammond, who was becoming enraged. "Whatever!" was Hammond's infuriated response. Max brushed off the man's irate behavior and continued "Get to situation room and get started on that personnel proposal immediately or I'll have you put on report for insubordination."

Hammond was livid, however, under threat of disciplinary action, he did as asked and headed to the situation room. He pushed his way past Max and Michelle without even excusing himself.

"Thanks for that Max" Michelle said with a small smile.

"Don't worry about it" Max replied, watching as Hammond walked into the situation room.

Max then turned to face Michele "Anyway, I have to go talk to the Director again. Are you holding up alright?" he asked placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Just about. Although if it weren't for you I probably wouldn't be at all. I'd either be dead after Saunders killed me, or facing the prospect of my husband being imprisoned or given the death penalty for saving me. Thank you, your intervention allowed Tony and I to stay together" Michelle replied giving Max a hug.

"Anytime, I'm pleased to have been of help to you" Blake told her after they broke their embrace.

He turned his attention to the plastic box full of files and data Michelle would need to write her debrief. "Here let me get that for you" Max said picking it up and walking with Michelle to her office. He placed the box on her desk and turned to face her again. "Look, take as long as you need to on this. The Director will understand if after everything you've been through, you want to take it at your own pace. And don't worry about updating me on your progress, I'm not a teacher here to check your spelling and grammar. Just let me know when it's done so I can get word to Langley." Max smiled at her and walked out of her office.

Michelle took a deep breath and sat down to begin her debrief.

Some time later, Michelle wanted to take a break, both because she was hungry and because she needed to take some time out from her recount of the Chandler Plaza. She got up and headed towards Tony's Office. When she walked in, her husband gave her huge smile. Tony had also been having a lousy morning. He had been worried about Michelle and too busy to check on her, there hadn't been a chance to find out how she was until now. Just seeing her come through the door was uplifting; her presence always gave him strength, and right now was no exception.

Michelle stood and waited for her husband to finish up. Tony hung up the phone, got out of his seat and walked around to his wife.

He wrapped her in his arms and took a moment to savor the smell of her curls, before speaking. "Hello sweetie." Tony whispered softly.

"Hey Babe" she replied before kissing him lightly on the lips. Michelle took a few moments to allow herself to relax. She closed her eyes, rested her head against Tony's chest, and just focused on how safe and content she felt in her husband's arms.

Eventually they broke their embrace and just smiled slightly to each other. "Ready to head for lunch?" Tony asked her, lifting her chin and gazing into her beautiful, dark almond shaped eyes.

"Yeah I guess" Michelle replied softly. Then Tony took her hand in his and they headed out of his office.

Brad Hammond watched them walk through the bull pen, hand in hand. Even he could see just how much they loved each other and the way that each of them always seemed so much happier and content in the other's company. It was in their body language, their facial expressions and mannerisms. Even with all the hell the couple had been through in the past two days, their bond was so strong that they were able to draw comfort from it, and out of everyone who had been through the crisis, Tony and Michelle were dealing with it the best, as a result. They both worked together, they understood the world of counter terrorism equally well, even if each of them did have different opinions on certain aspects of it.

When they went home at night after a day of hell, they could have a no holes barred discussion on what they had witnessed, done or experienced. They didn't need to worry about passing on classified information, or delving into topics that were too dark for the other person to comprehend, because they worked together. And that was precisely why he hated them. Well, to be more precise, that was why he hated Tony. He had a woman who understood the job he did.

Brad Hammond didn't have that luck. His wife, Christine, had been a teacher. They met at college, but chose radically different career paths. It was the nature of Brad's job that began to rot away at their marriage. The extremely late nights, the dark secrets, the random transfers away from home, all of these things contributed to its downfall. He was never really around for his wife, and when he was he had to bottle up such terrible things, that he took his torment out on her. He was abusive to her; he neglected her. It was everything surrounding the aftermath of the Drazen's attempt on the then Senator Palmer's life that had finally killed his marriage. Hammond was particularly involved with dealing with the aftermath of Nina Myers betrayal. There had been a top level inquiry into what happened. Hammond had to stay away from home for two months in order to consult with DOD and Langley. He came home to find his wife had left him. Christine had decided that his two month absence was the final straw. She had left him, not only that, but Hammond found out that for the past year or so his wife had been screwing some colleague from the English department at her school. She had been having sex with this man in their marital bed.

This was what eventually lead to his hatred of Tony Almeida. The way Brad saw it; his marriage had been destroyed when he was away fixing Almeida's mistakes. Then Tony himself had eventually been able to put what had happened with Nina behind him and move on, particularly when he got involved with Michelle Dessler. Almeida had found love, he had been a major part of the scandal that Brad Hammond had destroyed his marriage trying to repair, and he had found love. The bitterness and resentment came from the fact that Tony's marriage wouldn't be filled with the same problems that his own had, as Michelle was a colleague who would know most of the things that Tony had to deal with. The reason he hated Michelle, was simply that she was that woman for Tony. Had the pair never gotten together, Hammond wouldn't view her with same disgust.

He had heard rumours that Tony and Michelle were thinking of leaving CTU and becoming regular civilians. There was no way in hell that he was going to let that happen, not if he could help it. He would make sure they couldn't be together by ordering Tony to remain here as Director of CTU Los Angeles and transferring Michelle somewhere else, the further away in the country the better.

Hammond had tried transferring Dessler on several previous occasions; however, Ryan Chappelle had always made sure that it didn't happen. Ryan had known that Brad was doing it out of spite rather than any genuine desire to send Michelle where he believed she'd be an asset and do her duty well. Chappelle always blocked Hammond's transfer requests, but this time he wasn't around to do so. Dessler would be moved to somewhere else in the country, maybe even overseas, and with the workload that Federal Agents had, the Almeidas would be lucky if they got to see each other any more than two or three times a year.

Brad sat down and booted up his laptop, he browsed through the available positions in government agencies the world over. Finally, he found the perfect position for Michelle, the head of Field Ops at CTU Little Rock. His eyes sparkled with glee at the prospect, not only would Michelle be thousands of miles across the continent from her husband, but she'd be in a post where the risk of her dying in the line of duty would increase several fold. Almeida would constantly be worried about her safety, and he wouldn't even get to go home with her at night. It was perfect; Hammond began the process of putting Dessler forward for the transfer.


	6. Part 2 Chapter 3

_**Authors Notes: **__Thanks once again for the reviews so far. And as always, the only character I own is Max. _

**Part 2**

**Chapter 3:** _"Calm Before The Storm". _

The Almeidas chose a nice quiet restaurant to have their lunch and mostly made small talk, anything really other than work. It was bad enough having to think so much about the past two days whilst they were in the office, so they were certainly going to avoid the subject in their free time. It seemed all too soon when they knew they would have to head back.

"Tony, as soon as we get back, we should tell Brad that we want to resign" Michelle said as they headed out of the restaurant, Tony's arm around Michelle, her head resting on his shoulder.

Tony sighed, "I'm not sure, Michelle. You know he'll probably just refuse to let us. I'd rather not have to deal with getting round that today."

"I know that honey," Michelle replied "but, sweetheart you know his answer won't change no matter when we talk to him about it. I think it's better to talk to him now, the sooner we get it out of the way the better it will be." She smiled at him and kissed the crook of his neck. It seemed to work

"Fine, it's your call sweetheart; I'll do whatever you want." Tony conceded.

Upon walking into CTU, they went in search of Hammond. However, just as they were doing so they saw something they did not expect, Stephen Saunders being lead into the bull pen in handcuffs. Jack and Chase were with him.

Michelle called Bauer over "What's happening Jack? Why is he here?" she inquired.

"NSA has picked up a spike in chatter amongst Saunders operatives. We also have detected attempts at hacking our system since his arrest. We brought him back here for interrogation" Jack explained.

Michelle nodded, trying to ignore the smug look that Saunders was throwing in their direction. "Will you need any help?" she asked.

"Not really, I'll work with Agent Blake on it" Jack said. With that he and Chase headed off to find Max and take Saunders to one of the holding rooms.

Michelle was just about to head over to Hammond's office again when she heard an unpleasantly familiar voice "Hello Michelle."

She winced before turning to face the person who had spoken "Hello Carrie" Michelle's tone was polite, but it was never more obvious that she didn't really mean to be so cordial. "What are you doing here?"

"I've taken over Gael's responsibilities" Carrie Turner replied

"Since when?" Michelle inquired.

"Yesterday, Hammond appointed me" Turner informed her.

"Well, that essentially means that you'll be working under me again" Michelle said matter of factly, wanting to end the conversation as soon as possible.

"Yes, which reminds me congratulations on everything that's happened in the past three years. Second in command of comm, third in command overall, you've done well for yourself." Carrie's voice was dripping with sarcasm and it was so obvious that she wasn't sincere. Then as if to prove it all hints of niceties stopped "But I guess that's one of the perks of letting the boss put it in you" Carrie smirked.

Michelle was livid but she wasn't going to let it show. Instead she just smiled slightly and shook her head. Michelle totally brushed off Carrie's comment, "I'll e-mail you a list of things that need to be done. Make sure that your reports are on my desk by the end of the day. Other than that just stay out of my way. I have things to do."

She just pushed past Carrie and carried on over to Hammond's office where Tony was waiting for her.

"Everything okay?" Tony asked her as she walked up to him.

"Yeah, just Carrie being her usual bitchy self. Nothing I can't handle" Michelle replied with a smile. "Ready to get this over with?" she continued, as they both headed into the office where Brad Hammond was working. Hammond looked up as they walked through the door, he had a fair idea of what they were here to ask, and the thought of what answer he was going to give them filled him with a sadistic pleasure.

"Mr. Hammond" Michelle started "We'd like a moment of your time if we may" she continued standing firm in front of his desk. Hammond thought for a moment of telling them no before they'd even asked the question that he was sure was on their lips. However, he decided to go along with them up to a point. "Fine, take a seat" Brad motioned to the two chairs in front of his desk. Tony and Michelle both sat down. They looked at each-other in silent communication trying to decide who exactly should broach the subject. In the end it was Michelle who asked the question "We were hoping to leave CTU, to resign as agents" she tenuously began, keeping her tone as polite and respectable as possible. If Brad Hammond was being won over by Michelle's cordial demeanor he certainly wasn't showing it. "May I ask why?" he spat, his tone and facial expressions hostile.

"After everything that happened over the past few days, we've both decided that enough is enough" Michelle informed him, hoping that maybe he would be won over.

"No" Was Hammond's simple response.

"No?!!" Tony asked, his eyes burning with rage. Michelle stroked his hand with her thumb under the table in an attempt to calm him, but this time it wasn't going to work "Why the hell not?!!" he continued, his voice burning hot, his teeth nearly clenched with rage.

"Watch how you speak to me Almeida" Hammond snapped. "The reason is that I can't just let agents give up, when the going gets a little too tough for their liking. I will not allow you to resign." He kept his tone and face serious, despite the fact the sadistic part of wanted to smile at what was coming next "In fact, I'm transferring Michelle."

Tony was stunned; he certainly wasn't expecting that, for a few moments the feeling of rage that had been building inside him was muted by disbelief and surprise.

"A transfer?" Michelle finally spoke up.

"Yes." Hammond replied "And before either of you ask, it's to CTU Little Rock, as their new head of field ops." The faintest hint of a smile showed on his face, as he watched their shocked and worried reactions.

Tony was well the past the point of self restraint. "No way in hell!!!" he shouted "My wife is not going to be sent to a purely field ops post!" He was livid now his fists were clenched and his eyes were boring holes into Hammond.

"Well tough. You'll just have to suck it up, this transfer is non-contestable!" Hammond replied. Michelle was completely reluctant to accept the new post, but to some extent Brad was right she'd just have to suck it up and make the best of it. "Fine Brad. I'll be ready to start whenever they want me."

"Good" Hammond responded. He then added "The position starts early next week, you can have a few days off to prepare and say your goodbyes, feel lucky I'm giving you that much" and with that he just walked out the door without even looking back at the couple whose world he'd just turned upside down.

The Almeidas watched him go, still totally bewildered and shocked.

"Michelle, are you serious?" Tony began, his voice choked, not even trying to hide his emotions "Are you really going to leave for Arkansas and take up this position as if the conversation we had the other evening never took place?" he finished. Michelle could see that his eyes were moist with tears; she walked up to him and wiped them away.

"I don't really think that we have any choice. Brad said that it wasn't contestable. I may have to go." Michelle wanted to cry; she was exhausted and devastated. It was taking everything in her not to break down, but she knew that they still had a lot of work to do, especially as she saw Chloe walking towards them both.

"Michelle we need you on the floor." Chloe said, clearly not interested in the fact she was interrupting them.

"What do you need?" Michelle replied

"Someone is attacking our system still; we need you to help implement intrusion detection in the IPsec Architecture."

"Isn't there some way you can handle that yourself?" Tony piped in clearly irritated by Chloe's arrival.

"Well it's not proper protocol, because Michelle built the architecture so, I think that makes it her responsibility" Chloe said exasperated.

"Fine, I'll be there in a minute Chloe" Michelle told the blond analyst. Chloe huffed and headed back out of the office.

"'Chelle we need to talk" Tony said softly to his wife.

"We don't have time right now, Tony, if we get a few minutes later, I'll come see you." She let out a deep breath, squeezed her husband's hand and walked out of the room.

Tony just stood there feeling drained, he was livid at Hammond. How dare he send Michelle somewhere else after everything she'd been through. Tony knew that Brad was doing it just to split them up, to try to destroy their marriage. He hated the fact that he and his wife would be thousands of miles apart and unable to see each other save for a couple of times a year. Tony loved Michelle so much, he wanted her with him all the time. However, it wasn't as though no-one else in their profession didn't have to deal with it, and couples in the military had to deal with it all the time. A marriage could survive the distance so long as the couple was willing to work at it.

Ultimately, it was the nature of the post, and the timing that infuriated Tony the most. Michelle being made the head of field ops put her in so many dangers for combat, as well increasing the chance that she would have to unthinkable things as part of undercover work. Tony was too protective of his wife to allow her into that kind of work so easily. Add to that the fact that she was still traumatized from everything at the Chandler Plaza and it was really a disturbing thought that she would be right back in the terror, fear and carnage of the field by this time next week.

To a certain extent, he had to admit, he was also annoyed by Michelle herself. She constantly kept her emotions in check, and put her happiness and their relationship last. She was even conceding to Hammond's transfer. Tony wished that just once she could learn to be selfish, and not take the ever dutiful stance that she did.

Michelle wanted to just break down and sob; she had very little restraint left on her emotions after everything that had happened over the past few days. Now she was being sent to the other side of the country, to another state, away from her husband.

Just a few days ago, there would have been a part of Michelle Dessler that would actually have felt quite excited and intrigued at the transfer. She enjoyed field work, whilst it was dangerous and frightening it was also enjoyable, probably precisely for those reasons. The adrenaline and the rush were pretty dammed exhilarating, it could not be denied. Michelle was very efficient at it, she was trained in several forms of unarmed combat, was an excellent shot, and her physical stamina and fitness were of a very high level.

The separation from her husband wouldn't have truly stopped her going either; she was a very independent career driven woman. As much as she adored Tony, she could quite easily be apart from him for a little bit and conduct their relationship over a long distance for a while if it was in the best interests of her advancement in her career.

That wasn't to say that she wouldn't miss him terribly and eventually look for a way for them to be together again, just that for a while she could make sacrifices in her personal life to suit her professional ambitions.

However, that was then, and this was now. Michelle felt as though that part of her had died in the Chandler Plaza, that voice was silent now. She was aware that she really had no choice, and would have to just go with it and see what developed; she also believed that if she conceded to Hammond, it would diffuse the tense and volatile atmosphere that was being generated between him and Tony.

Part of the reason she was doing this was to make it slightly easier on her husband. If Brad Hammond was off his back, Michelle would find it easier to get through to Tony and begin to work through all the issues this was going to raise between them. Taking a deep breath, she sat down to begin working with Chloe.

It was some time later when Michelle and Chloe got a break, they had managed to trace the hacker, and were just in the process of getting his location. "I think I might be able to back door into their system," Michelle said. She soon had a display on the screen showing data and set up the interface which gave her control of the hackers system. Michelle brought up the system details. "I'm in" she declared "Wait a second, yes, I have the system information and configuration details. The hacker is using a Hi-Grade Notrino c7000. It's a laptop computer; I'm getting their ISP details. One moment, they're using a mobile package, I can isolate the area they're transmitting from." Michelle waited a short while until the cell tower being used by the hacker's cellular phone computer modem could be triangulated. Eventually they were able to track them, and pin point the exact location of the hacker.

Jack and Max had now joined them. They had been unable to break Saunders yet, so had taken a few minutes out. It was possible that if they could capture the hacker, he would be easier to break than his former boss.

"Jack," Michelle began "The exact location is somewhere in Wilshire"

"Right, probably a café or somewhere like that" Jack replied "Max you're familiar with Saunders men so might be able to ID the target, I need you with me."

"Fine" Max said.

"You too Chloe" Jack added.

Chloe went pale, and her mouth was hanging open, dry as cotton wool. "What?" she blurted out.

"I said you're with me let's go." Jack replied.

"Oh I'm not a field agent, I don't do that" Chloe spat, getting really frightened now.

"Chloe!" Jack snapped "We need an IT tech on the scene; you're coming with us, that's an order."

"Fine" She finally conceded. By now Max had rejoined them.

"I got Hammond to continue interrogating Saunders" he informed them.

"Wait" Chloe began "Does he know about the additional surveillance equipment in the room, it wasn't installed when Hammond last helped with an interrogation here, he might not be aware of it. I think he should be told as a matter of protocol."

"That's not important right now Chloe" Jack told her clearly irritated by her incessant need to stick to protocol "Let's go get into the field, Hammond will do just fine, regardless of whether or not he knows we have an extra array of cameras and microphones since his last time here."

"Fine" Chloe huffed and shuffled off after Bauer and Blake.

"Well hello Mr. Hammond" Stephen Saunders said as he looked up to see Brad walking into the interrogation room. Hammond ignored him and just sat in front of him. "Well, I'm ready to talk, there's something I want to tell you" Saunders suddenly said, taking Hammond by complete surprise. "But first, be a good chap and get rid of this bloke for me could you?" Saunders added indicating Agent Johnson who was stood against the back wall, arms folded; his silver case resting by his feet.

"He needs to be here" Hammond said simply

"Then I won't talk" Stephen replied with impressive determination considering everything he had been through in the past couple of hours.

Hammond took a deep breath to consider his options, finally he decided that removing Johnson was worth it, if Saunders would talk. "Fine" he said "Johnson leave us". The agent nodded and keyed his way out of the room.

"Now deactivate the surveillance equipment, it's the only other condition on which I'll co-operate" Saunders added.

"I don't know if I can do that."

"Yes you can, you've done it before. I know your procedures." Stephen continued unyielding.

Hammond nodded and got up, went into the next room, and went through the sequence of deactivating everything. However, as Chloe had thought would happen he missed out on the newest array of cameras and microphones. He then headed back into the holding room and sat down.

"Now" Saunders spoke "There's something I need to tell you if you'll do something for me in return."

Several minutes later, Hammond re-emerged from the holding room; he was pale and shaking a little. However, he determinedly headed towards the bull-pen "I'm going to Division" he announced to Tony and Michelle as he passed.

"What?" Tony snapped "Max said he wants you interrogating Saunders."

"You're not the boss of me Almeida. Blake and Bauer will be back soon, they can continue then. I'm headed to Division, like it or not."

Tony and Michelle were far too busy running comm. and just shook their heads as Hammond walked out the double doors at the far end of the bull-pen.

Soon the operation to capture the hacker was complete and Tony and Michelle were able to get a few minutes to themselves.

"Come on Honey" Michelle said. "We have some time, let's go talk"

They both got up to Tony's office; Michelle took a seat on the couch and encouraged her husband to do the same. Tony walked over and sat next to his wife, who pulled him close to her and placed a kiss on his head. Then she began to speak

"Tony, I know that you don't want me going to Little Rock." She began.

"That's an understatement Michelle, I'm going to fight this transfer every step of the way" Tony replied determinedly.

"I know that sweetheart, but it's not right for you to…" Michele replied softly running her thumb across his cheek.

"But…" Tony tried to protest.

"Shh.." Michelle soothed him, placing a finger on his lips "Don't talk, just listen for now, okay?" Tony nodded, she continued, "I don't want to go Tony! Really I don't! However, I may not have much of a choice in the matter." Michelle looked at him seriously "It won't be forever sweetheart, and we can get to see each-other sometimes." Michelle paused for a moment it was important for her to let those words hang in the air a little and gauge Tony's reactions before continuing. "Maybe after a year, perhaps two, I can ask my new boss if I can resign." She continued. Tony was just about to speak, when she carried on, pretty much sensing the question he was about to ask and answering it straight away. "I really don't think asking to leave the post any earlier than that would be good professional etiquette, and a little disrespectful" Michelle told him firmly.

"But Michelle it's so far apart. We would only be together two maybe three times a year. That's months and months apart Michelle with just a phone-call or e-mail each day to maintain the contact and relationship during that time! It won't be us living together anymore." Tony rambled, not even trying to stop the tears from flowing.

Michelle sat there and sighed; she really didn't want to see Tony like this. It wasn't going to change the fact that save some miracle, she was going to have to go. She wanted her husband calm so they could talk through this.

"Tony, honey, I know, it will be tough, but it's the job and that's all there is to it." She told him, firmly but still in a soft and affectionate tone.

Tony sighed deeply, swallowed and nodded "You're right 'Chelle. We'll get through it, no matter what."

"Of course we will" Michelle replied "I mean, let me ask you this, will you love me any less because of the distance?"

"Of course not" Was Tony's simple response

"Exactly! We'll deal with it just fine, it may be tough and a long haul, but we'll deal with it." She smiled, he nodded. "Tony, honey, if you were still in the Marines we would probably have been doing it this way already. You could be posted overseas for six months or more at a time. You could be in the Navy, and do a six month tour of duty on an aircraft carrier. It's the way of the world, honey; many couples have relationships across great distances, and cope just fine. We'll get through this and before you know it I can step down and we can be together however much we want. A year or two is a mere fraction out of a lifetime together"

Tony smiled and nodded before kissing her passionately. Michelle finally broke the kiss and spoke up again. "I know that you're also worried that this position is a field ops one." She started "But let's talk about that when we get home tonight, we only have a short while until Jack gets in. So let's just cuddle a while and then head back down."

Tony didn't need any further encouragement, he gathered his wife up his arms and pulled her in tightly.

Outside, Jack, Max and Chloe had returned with the hacker and his laptop now in custody. Chloe looked totally drained. "I'm going for some lunch" she declared.

"I'm not sure we have time Chloe" Max said to her as Jack shoved the hacker, who was dragging his heels, forward. "Well I'm going to get some take-out." O'Brien said determinedly "I won't take that long, I mean isn't that why they call it fast food?" she huffed and headed to her car.

Max and Jack decided it was best to just let it go and watched after as she approached her car. They were just about to pass through the outer security gates when they heard a massive explosion. They both hit the ground, Jack taking the suspect with them as they went. They got up quickly and looked behind them, just in time to see Chloe's car engulfed in a fire-ball and the blond analyst being thrown across the parking lot like a rag-doll.


	7. Part 3 Chapter 1

**Author's Notes:** Thanks _again for the reviews so far everyone. As ever I don't own any characters other than Max, and in this chapter, Dr Dow and Agent Harry Gates. _

**Part Three: **

**Chapter 1- **_**"Onslaught" **_

Jack and Max ran over to Chloe. "Is she?" Max asked. Jack reached down to Chloe's, battered, bloody and charred form and checked her pulse. "Yeah! She's dead!" he shouted at Max. "What happened?" Max replied. Seconds later he got his answer; a streak of smoke came flying past them and the rocket hit a parked vehicle a few feet away, killing the agent who was inside.

"We're under attack!" Jack yelled, knowing that with rocket launchers clearly at the attackers' disposal, taking cover behind a vehicle was pointless. He looked over at Max, who was thinking the same thing. They'd just have to run for the building.

"Ready?" he shouted

"Yeah!"

"Okay, on three. One, two, three!!!"

Max and Jack got up and sprinted across the concrete, coming under fire from a group of men who were advancing on their position. Jack fired back over his shoulder, taking out two of the masked attackers.

The attackers appeared to be very well armed with two using M-203 grenade launchers to take out the guard towers at the main gates of CTU. The hacker got caught up in the crossfire and his bullet riddled form hit the floor. Max and Jack just managed to dodge into the main gates and close them behind them.

Inside, the alarm had gone off to signal that CTU was being attacked. Tony, Michelle and the other agents were already gearing up. Michelle slipped a Kevlar vest over her tank-top, tucked an H&K .45 pistol into the back of her pants before picking up an M-4 carbine and placing spare magazines into the pockets on the front of her vest. Confident that she was ready, Michelle left the armoury and headed through the corridor, her finger ever poised over the trigger in case she met a hostile. Her radio crackled, she keyed the mic with her thumb and spoke into the mouthpiece on her head set. "This is Dessler, go ahead"

"Michelle, it's Jack, CTU is being assaulted by multiple hostiles, armed with rifles and submachine guns. The ones on the outside also have rocket launchers. Michelle, Chloe is dead, they took out her vehicle when she was about to get into it."

Michelle took just a few seconds to process the information, not even having the time to truly take in the fact that one of the people she worked most closely with had been killed; there'd be time to think of that later. "Copy that Jack, we'll meet in the bullpen and set up a central command area. Try and make your way there."

"This is Bauer, copy that."

As Michelle continued on she was just passing the corridor that lead from the bullpen to IT when saw movement behind the frosted glass of the double doors ahead of her. Suddenly the doors blew inward in violent explosion catching an agent who had been standing in front of them at the time. Two hostiles walked through the smoke; they looked eastern European, similar to the men who had assaulted the MI-6 office a few days ago. They were quickly scanning the room and both were armed with what looked like H&K-MP5s.

One of the men saw Michelle and raised his weapon to fire but Michelle was quicker to react. Her finger squeezed the trigger and let out a burst of automatic fire from her M-4, dropping the assailant instantly. Without a second of hesitation Michelle also dropped the second man.

On the roof above the break room, a number of hostiles were gathered around the skylight, one was prone and pressing plastic explosives into the corners of the skylight canopy. The others were hooking up rappelling zip-lines.

At the rear of the building several more terrorists were preparing to blow the windows. One man crouched down on knee and formed a stirrup for his partner. The second man stepped into his friend's hand and used it to reach the windows with a breaching charge at the end of a long handle. Turning his face away he squeezed the handle, blowing out the windows and sending shards of glass flying across the room inside, showering the two admin workers who had been in there at the time.

The two men clambered through and gunned down the shocked and disoriented agents.

Michelle encountered Carrie Turner as she came out of IT. "Carrie, these men are here to get Saunders back. We're going to have to try and get him out before they can and if possible move him to another location. I want you to go to holding and prepare him. I'll send Agent Gates to join you" Michelle informed the woman.

"I'm not going to do that Michelle. We really should be thinking of getting out of here and re-grouping."

"Oh yes, you damn well are! We're all in the shit here; everyone is going to have to do their part to repel this assault. This is not the time for you to start chickening out."

"I don't think…" Carrie began, but was cut off by Michelle firing a burst into the floor mere inches from her feet, scaring the hell out of her in the process.

"Go to holding!! Or I swear I'll shoot your right now myself. There's no way in hell I'm going to let you cower away, whilst everyone else stands together here" Dessler unwaveringly ordered.

"Fine" Carrie said defeated before shuffling off towards holding.

"I'll be sending Agent Gates to join you in a few moments. I expect him to find you there." Michelle called after her.

On the roof the men by the skylight blew the charges set around it. As the bolts holding it in place were obliterated the canopy crashed down into the break room. The terrorists threw the zip lines down in and rappelled their way down to the floor.

By now Michelle was with Tony and the others. "You okay?" her husband asked placing his hand ever so lightly against the small of her back for just a second. It was a very discreet and subtle gesture but Michelle still felt it. She smiled slightly at Tony and whispered "Yah" with a slight nod.

"Okay, everyone listen up" Jack began. "We have a major situation here; a group of armed men are attempting to assault the building, most likely in order to extract Stephen Saunders." Everyone who was gathered around nodded in agreement. "We all need to secure different parts of the building. Get yourself into teams. Agent Dessler will delegate different areas to each team"

Soon everyone had been organized. Extra equipment and weaponry had been dispensed and the teams selected.

Each team headed over to their designated area. Michelle and Tony headed towards the break room. They just rounded the corner when they came under fire. "Damn it!!" Tony yelled. They each stood at a different side of the doorway, their backs to the wall. Michelle slid to a crouching position and nodded, before taking out a flash bang and throwing it into the room. Tony did the same. Inside the hostiles had become disoriented by the blinding light and loud explosion. Tony and Michelle burst in and Tony dropped the first hostile, but the second fired wildly and caught Tony in the leg. Almeida hit the floor; simultaneously Michelle killed the second man. A fierce exchange ensued before she managed to drop the remaining three terrorists.

Michelle then turned her attention to her husband. "Jesus, Tony, Are you okay?" she inquired. Tony winced with the pain but responded "Yeah, it's not as bad as it looks; I think I took one to the knee, I'll be fine." Michelle inspected the wound, it wasn't too bad, the bullet probably hadn't penetrated very far, and the bleeding wasn't too severe. She wiped the sweat from Tony's brow before going over the vending machine and smashing it open. Michelle took out a bottle of mineral water. "You have mild shock sweetheart, I think that's what caused you to fall more than the injury itself. Take this it will help." As she crouched before him, Michelle kissed him lightly on the lips, and then handed him the water.

"Umm…Curly Head, this is hardly the time to play our nurse and patient fantasy" Tony said with a naughty grin. Michelle smirked a little and gave him a wink just before the medics came into the room.

"It's okay now we've got him Agent Dessler" Dr. Dow told her before inspecting the wound. "Looks like you got lucky, Tony. The wound is very shallow. My guess is that one ricocheted off the table or something, and as a result, its velocity was radically reduced and ended up in your knee without leaving much more than a flesh wound and bruising. I'm going to put a brace around your knee and in all likelihood; you will be okay to go home today." The doctor informed Almeida.

"I think you can leave now, Michelle" Tony said with a smile.

"Thanks Doctor" Michelle told the medic. "See you later sweetheart" she told Tony.

All of this had occurred in mere minutes. Now after a brief moment of tenderness as the doting wife, Michelle went straight back into agent mode, retrieving her gear and after a quick glance over at shoulder at Tony being treated, headed out of the room.

Meanwhile Carrie Turner was psyching herself up to go in and prepare Saunders to be moved away to another location in order to try and stop his men from rescuing him. Turner was terrified that the moment she walked through the door, from the observation room into the actual holding cell itself, Saunders' men would suddenly appear and kill her. However, she had stalled long enough and Agent Gates would probably be here soon. She wasn't much interested in being fired or worse if she didn't do what Michelle had asked of her so she took a deep breath and headed into the cell.

As he heard the door buzz Saunders quickly sat in his chair. He had no cuffs or shackles on as Brad Hammond having removed them after Saunders had told him something so distressing that it made him forget his duty and bow to the terrorist's demands.

Turner walked up to Stephen and was completely baffled when she saw his hands and feet free of their chains. Too late for her to react, Saunders stood up and punched her in the throat. Carrie was completely dazed and staggered backwards, dropping her weapon. Stephen picked it up and pointed it at her.

"No!!" Carrie screamed "Please don't kill me, just leave. I won't try and stop you. Just please don't kill me!!!!" Turner wailed frantically.

Stephen looked at the woman before him; he almost wanted to laugh at her. She was a federal agent and should have had more courage than this. "Okay," he replied simply. "Open the door for me, and I'll be on my way" he added.

Turner nodded punching in the key code to open the cell door. Saunders made his way through it. Carrie breathed a sigh of relief; her gratefulness at having lived outweighing the guilt for just letting Saunders get away so easily. However, just as he was through the door into the observation room, Saunders turned around and fired a single round into the back of her head.

Saunders then casually walked out of the cell. Agent Harry Gates was just walking into holding as Saunders was walking out; he went for his weapon, shocked to see Saunders before him. However, Stephen was quicker and had double tapped the agent before he had time to draw his side-arm. Saunders didn't even bat an eyelid before continuing down the corridor.

Michelle had just finished off a couple of other hostiles and was checking the pulses of two security guards she found slumped against the corridor walls, but they were dead. Whilst she had been crouched in front of the two men, Michelle had rested her rifle against the wall. Sighing, she was just about to retrieve it when she heard someone shout at her "Don't Move!! Stay perfectly still, Agent Dessler!" Michelle looked up to see Saunders at the end of the corridor, the same smug look on his face as he had worn earlier in the day. She tried reaching for the handgun tucked into her pants; however Saunders fired a shot that came so perilously close to actually hitting Michelle it virtually grazed the side of her head.

"Get on your knees and put your hands behind your head" Saunders said confidently.

Michelle, realizing he had the upper hand in this case, did as instructed, silently cursing herself for not paying attention to her surroundings when she was checking on the two dead guards.

Saunders walked up to Michelle, his gun still pointed at her. "Ironic, that you and I should meet like this" he started. "My men had orders to kill you the other day, either in the van with your husband watching on the video feed, or right in front of his eyes had he complied and met to exchange my daughter for you" he smirked at her, but the smile faded when he saw her defiant expression.

"Okay, I told a lie. They weren't simply ordered to kill you, they'd have tortured you and raped you several times and forced Tony to watch" Saunders added coolly. He watched Michelle's face seeing it start to change its expression, but was disappointed when she still didn't show fear.

Michelle's eyes burned with rage, she did feel an unsettling dread in the pit of her stomach at the thought of what could have happened to her. However, the strongest emotion she felt was anger, intense fury that the man she loved would have been made to witness it.

Saunders was right in front of her now; she could smell the stench of his breath. He pressed the gun against her head, and continued "But of course, they were incompetent, and allowed someone to take them out without even attempting to defend themselves. I guess the old saying is true, if you want something done properly you pretty much have to do it yourself." His finger hovered over the trigger.

Michelle, swallowed, realizing that this was it, she was going to die, but she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of going out showing fear. "I don't know why you're blaming them" she started, catching Saunders attention and delaying the final shot for a few seconds. "You're the one who allowed a CIA mole into your organization in the first place, dumb-ass" Michelle finished with a sarcastic smirk.

Saunders was livid, "Feisty little bitch aren't you?" he snarled.

"Yah." Michelle replied simply, her expression unchanged.

"No matter, you can only delay the inevitable" his finger poised over the trigger again, inching closer to pressing it, he was just about the squeeze when he saw something out of the corner of his eye.

"Hay!!" A voice shouted from behind him.

He whirled round for just a second and saw Chase Edmunds. Saunders fired at the young field operative hitting him in the shoulder causing Chase to fall. Michelle seized the opportunity and lunged at Saunders tackling him to the ground; quickly she got up and kicked his gun away across the corridor. By this time Saunders had also got back to his feet, he swung at her, Michele blocked his punch, and grabbing his arm she pulled him and kicked him in the groin. Saunders, however, wasn't going to give up that easily, he grabbed Michelle's wrist and twisted her arm, around working his own free in the process, and he soon pulled Dessler into a choke hold.

Michele felt the intense pressure being applied to her throat, unable to breath she felt her eyes sting and began to see stars from the lack of oxygen. Desperately she tried to get free but Saunders' grip was too strong.

With little time left Michelle quickly tried to think of another way out of this, noticing that she was facing the wall. She tried one last tactic, placing both feet against the wall and climbing it with them, before pushing off with her legs. Michelle toppled back taking Stephen with her. He hit the ground first, his head connecting hard with the marble tiled floor.

Michelle elbowed him hard in the ribs repeatedly, before he finally let her go. She clambered to her feet in an instant. Stephen got to his, but in his dazed condition he was still a little disoriented, he swung for Michelle, but she blocked his punch.

Dessler immediately followed with a counterattack of a palm strike to Saunders' jaw, which connected with his chin with such force that, she caused him bite off the tip of his tongue, which he instinctively spit out. Saunders staggered back; Michelle hit him in the stomach. As Saunders staggered around, Michelle shuffled until she was behind him. Reaching forward, she grabbed his fringe and pulled his head back, pushing him forwards towards the wall and slamming his face against it.

Michelle, had won the fight, but now she was enraged. The thoughts of what he had said to her a few moments ago, and even more, of everything that happened at the Chandler Plaza because of him, flashed through her mind. Michelle lost all of her self restraint, surrendering to a violent blind fury. She smashed his face against the wall again, and again after that, this time Saunders passed out, and Michelle lowered him to the floor.

Saunders remained unconscious Michelle retrieved her side-arm. However, the rage had not yet subsided. Michelle intended to make Saunders pay for all the lives he had destroyed or ended at the Chandler Plaza, and the various outbreaks across the city and for the grief he had brought the families of the victims. She checked the chamber of her H&K-45 and walked back to where Saunders lay.

As she watched his unconscious form, Michelle couldn't help but admit the irony of how a man who had become twisted and evil and caused so much carnage and tragedy, could look so peaceful; his eyes closed and his breathing steady.

Then images of the Chandler Plaza flashed through her mind, she felt her eyes grow moist with tears, as she raised her weapon, her hand was shaking, and her teeth were clenched with rage so hard that she could actually feel pain resonating through her jaw.

In a flurry of emotions, Michelle felt rage, despair, torment and bitterness all at once. Her finger connected with the trigger; agonizingly slowly she began to apply pressure. But then she heard a soft voice speak to her. "Sweetie, don't do it." Tony said. Michelle turned to see him with Max, the injured Chase, and Jack at the end of the corridor.

Tony turned his attention to the men who were with him. "Could you leave us?" he asked steadily. They nodded, Jack and Max each supporting Edmunds, and walked away, leaving just Tony and Michelle alone with the unconscious Saunders.

"Curly-Head, listen to me baby. Don't do it, he's defenseless. You'd go to prison." He walked slowly, on account of needing crutches for his bruised knee, over to his wife.

"He made toddlers die in agony, people with everything to live for kill themselves, and there are hundreds if not thousands of families whose lives have been destroyed because of him. The bastard deserves to die" Michelle replied, her voice choked with emotion. She still hadn't lowered her gun.

Tony placed his hand on the side of her face, brushed her hair back and kissed the crook of her neck lightly, before whispering into her ear. "I'm not saying that he doesn't, Michelle" he started, turning her face to make eye contact with him. "But if you kill him now, like this, you're the one who will pay. They'll put you in prison, no matter how much he deserves it, killing him like this would be murder."

Tony looked deep into Michelle's dark almond shaped eyes. "Honey, if you went to prison or were given the death penalty it would destroy me. I couldn't live without you, Michelle. If for no other reason, stop yourself doing this for me." Tony's voice remained soft. Finally, Michelle nodded and eventually began to lower her weapon. She clicked on the safety and placed the H&K-45 back into her pants. Tony squeezed her hand "You did the right thing, sweetheart. You're too good to kill someone out of nothing other than revenge" he said softly.

Michelle hugged him for a moment before reaching around to find the plastic-cuffs in her belt. She was just crouching down to tie Saunders' wrists together, when he sat up head butting her.

Michelle fell backwards and Stephen kicked Tony's legs, making him collapse to the floor also. Saunders pulled a second hand-gun that he had taken from someone he gunned down earlier and had been hidden under his pant leg. He raised it and pointed it at Tony.

"You should have killed me whilst you had the chance, Michelle" Stephen said, his voice distorted after biting off part of his tongue, but still with his trademark smirk "Now you'll pay for your indecisiveness."

Two shots rang out, followed by the sound of blood spurting from the mouth of a dying man.

**Author's Note:** _For anyone who may be wondering, everything that went on between Saunders and Hammond will be revealed in the next chapter._


	8. Part 3 Chapter 2

**Author's Notes: ** First off, apologies for how long it took until this update, "real life" stuff has been very busy. Second thanks for all the reviews so far.

There is a lot of action Michelle in this chapter. Also, a note of caution that many elements here are quite dark and angsty.

**Part Three: **

**Chapter 2 -"**_**Dead is forever" **_

The man's brown eyes glazed over and were wide with shock. Slowly the life ebbed away from his body. Blood trickled from his mouth; he looked at the person who had just shot him. He hadn't quite expected it. It had all happened in a blur. Then as he drew his dying he breath, his head flopped to one side and his eyes remained open unblinking.

Stephen Saunders was dead.

Michelle Dessler let out the breath she'd been holding. She lowered her gun once again. With lightning quick reactions, she had taken it out and double tapped, Saunders, firing two shots in rapid succession into his open mouth, ensuring that the message to pull the trigger didn't get from his brain to his finger. Michelle had just taken mere seconds to save the life of her husband.

Slowly, she stood up; her legs were shaking and she looked worryingly pale. Just a fraction of a second longer and the man she loved would have been killed; it almost completely drained her. Michelle was by no means a damsel in distress, but the last few minutes had overwhelmed her. She wanted to give in to the urge to faint, her extraordinary mental discipline almost giving way to the pure physiological responses of shock and fatigue.

Michelle walked over to Tony; she swallowed and took a deep breath, her emotions threatening to totally overwhelm her. Agonizingly slowly she crouched down and took him in her arms. Michelle clutched Tony as tightly as she could, savoring the feeling of him in her embrace. After what seemed like an eternity she looked into his eyes and spoke "Are you okay sweetheart?" She ran her fingers through the back of his scalp, and rested her forehead against his, gazing into his eyes.

"Yeah… How are you?" Tony replied pressing his lips lightly onto hers.

That proved too much for Michelle and soon she had tears streaming down her face. "Jesus, I came so close to losing you" she sniffed "Oh my God, Tony, I don't know what I'd have done without you." She ran her hand across his face and then resumed their embrace, clutching him even tighter than before. "It's okay sweetheart" Tony started. "I'm alright, we're together" he kissed her on the crook of her neck again, and eventually Michelle became calm.

"Is CTU secure?" Michelle inquired

"Almost, a group of Marines has arrived in support; we've got several areas back under our control. There's just a dozen or so hostiles left, from what we can see on the infra-red" Tony replied

Michelle nodded. "Let's get back to it then"

As they approached the bull-pen they heard one of the Marines come over the radio.

"This is Lieutenant Prislovsky, I have 5 tangos on the roof, and we're pinned down and outnumbered, require additional bodies ASAP"

Jack and Max were running comm.

"Lieutenant, this is Agent Blake," Max began "We copy that message, and are sending three agents to you immediately"

"Prislovsky, here, copy that Agent."

"Tony, Michelle," Jack called the couple over. "This is the situation. Kim was in a team with Adam Kauffman and Peter Seymour. Seymour is dead and Kauffman is seriously wounded. Kim is pinned down on the west side of the roof. The Marines, who have also suffered casualties, are on the east side. Between them are 5 hostiles, still armed with assault rifles and grenade launchers. Kim is out of ammo she needs to be rescued. However, with the Marines pinned down and outnumbered, that won't be possible unless, extra bodies are sent up there. We need a CTU team of three maybe four people to sweep the roof and clear it of all hostiles."

"I'll go" Michelle piped up.

"Me too" Max added

"Okay, I'll join you to make three" Jack said "Agent Jeffries" he called the man stood a few feet away. !

"Yes Agent Bauer?" The middle aged field agent replied

"You're with us"

"Right away Sir"

Michelle took some extra ammo, and with a quick look over her shoulder at Tony led the four man team towards the stairs.

On the roof Lieutenant Prislovsky leaned from around the air conditioning vent he was taking cover behind. He was met by a hail of bullets and turned to the man next to him, the only other survivor of the six man team who had gone onto the roof. "We're still pinned down, when CTU back up arrives, we should have the advantage back. We'll engage the tangos then."

"Aye, Sir" was the Marine's response.

In the stair well Michelle was on point the others stacked behind her ready to move through the doorway.

"Ready?" She asked.

"Yeah" They all replied in unison.

"Okay, Max, you and I will deploy smoke grenades and move left, Jack you and Jeffries move right, just after us."

They all nodded. Michelle and Max took out two smoke grenades each, opened the door and tossed them through.

Then they burst through the doors, using the smoke for cover. Once they'd cleared it they engaged the hostiles. Michelle opened fire and neutralized two hostiles, a third was killed by Max.

At the other side of the roof the two marines leaned out at each side of the air conditioning vent to engage the hostiles and managed to take out one more. Another stood up, Prislovsky fired on him, the tango staggered back, for a moment it looked like he would fall, but he had only been injured.

From her position Kim Bauer thought the final man, who staggered to within a couple of feet of her was neutralized and unaware that he was not, she stood up. Simultaneously, Jack fired a burst, which slammed through the man's chest, dropping him to the floor, dead.

However, something was very wrong with Kim, her eyes were wide and her mouth hung open, her hands went to her chest. Blood began to trickle through her fingers. All too soon, Jack realized what had happened, one or more of his bullets must have been a "through and through". It must have entered the tango's body, exited it at some point and ended up striking Kim, who had been stood perilously close to the terrorist at that precise moment. Jack was horrified he had just accidentally shot his own daughter.

Rushing up to Kim, Jack threw his weapon down and took her into his arms. "Kim!!" He yelled "Look at me Kimmy, keep your head up, no don't close your eyes" he yelled, frantically trying to get her to stay conscious. However, Kim couldn't do so, she had lost a lot of blood and her body began to fail. She closed her eyes and flopped to the floor. Jack checked his daughters pulse, she had none.

Just then, CTU medics came onto the roof with an oxygen mask and defibrillator. They began to work on Kim.

Michelle walked away from the scene, knowing there was no way she could help. She called down to the bull-pen to inform Tony and the others that the last of the hostiles had been neutralized. "Tony, it's me. The roof is clear, but in the exchange Kim was injured. Tony, I don't think she's going to make it." Michelle watched as the medics desperately tried to get Kim back, but to no avail.

"Copy that Michelle." Tony replied "Return downstairs when you can. And sweetie" He finished his tone become softer at the end.

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?" He asked softly.

"Yeah… Just about." Michelle replied, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before adding," Tony, I love you"

"I love you too sweetheart" Tony replied before disconnecting the line.

Michelle went back over to where the medics were working on Kim.

"I have a weak pulse" Dr Dow announced "I'm not going to mince words, her chances are incredibly slim with this much blood loss and trauma, I'm going get her airlifted to Cedars, but I really suggest you plan for the worst"

Jack sank back; utterly devastated he hung his head in his hands and began to sob. Michelle took in her arms and tried to comfort him.

As she sat holding her distraught friend, Michelle Dessler, was more determined than ever to leave CTU for good. It said everything about the destructive, depressing and tragic nature of this job, that a man had done something as terrible as to critically injure his own daughter in the carnage and confusion of a fierce and violent fire-fight.

That kind of twist of fate would almost never happen outside of this dark world, Michelle was all too aware of that. Now she knew that if she ever wanted to be happy, or even to keep her sanity intact, she would have to leave this world behind for good. Michelle said a silent prayer that somehow she could get out of the transfer to Little Rock, so that she could do so.

It was over an hour and a half later and everyone was gathered in the chaotic mess that was once the CTU briefing room.

Jack Bauer was not in attendance, he was at the hospital to be with Kim. He knew that his daughter didn't have much of a chance, and intended to be at her side if she finally did lose her life.

Chase Edmunds had gone with Jack.

Michelle stood at the front of the room preparing to go through the debriefing.

"Okay everyone listen up" she started. "There are two items on the agenda here. We can go through a full debrief tomorrow at Division. This place has been trashed and it's taken us until now to get enough systems working to get through even this material so other subjects will have to wait." Everyone around nodded their agreement, most were fatigued, some, like Tony were hurt after the assault, so no-one was particularly keen to spend the usual two, three or more hours debriefing in detail.

"Okay" Michelle began connecting her laptop up to a small 14" CRT television set. The overhead, data projector had been damaged in the attack, so the small TV that people watched in the break-room had been moved to the situation room, to serve as a make-shift monitor, for everyone to see. "First off, we've worked out how today's attack was carried out. Apparently, Saunders had it all worked out as a contingency plan if he got caught. He used his knowledge of our procedures and protocols to work out a potential way for his men to rescue him in the event he was brought here." Michelle brought up a slide that showed what appeared to be an e-mail. "This message was sent to the hacker Agents Bauer and Blake captured earlier today. Luckily we were able to salvage it and thanks to Agent Blake's experience in dealing with Saunders' systems, were able to decrypt it." Michelle zoomed further in to the text on screen so that it was clearly visible and then read out the e-mail. "It is possible, however, unlikely that I will be captured by the US authorities at some point. In this event, I have drawn up the following tactical scenario in order to ensure my safe extraction from their custody. Their protocols will dictate that I will be sent to one of their safe-houses, as I would be too valuable a prisoner to be sent to the usual federal detention center before my trial. I do not know the location of any of CTU's current safe-houses in the Los Angeles area.

However, I believe that they can be baited into returning me to CTU itself, the location of which, I have already made everyone aware. We can achieve this, by attempting to hack their system, as well as intentionally creating a spike in chatter for them to pick-up. They will view this as a possible indication of another threat. This will result in them brining me from the safe-house, back to CTU as their protocols dictate that all interrogations be conducted there. In this event, I will suggest the following as a timeline. Forty-Eight hours after my arrest, begin the hacking attempts, continue these for the whole of the morning that should be sufficient to truly get their attention. In the late afternoon, begin the assault. If I can I will try and find a way to have the access codes to the building and its various sections delivered to you."

Michelle finished reading the e-mail out and everyone around the room was silent, many of them had a silent begrudging respect for how well Saunders had planned his operation, despite the fact that it had lead to such tragedy and carnage. Others were simply finding the whole day's events overwhelming most had been fighting for their lives a short while ago and there was still quite a bit of work to be done before anyone could even think of going home.

Michelle took a few moments; she knew the next subject, regarding just how Saunders had achieved what he talked about in the final part of his e-mail would be a difficult one to broach. "If I could have everyone's attention again please" Michelle announced, everyone turned once again to face her. "The following subject is rather delicate" Michelle tentatively started "It involves Brad Hammond. Hammond interrogated Saunders, during which time, Saunders blackmailed Hammond into providing the men who carried out today's attack with access codes to this building which aided them in their assault upon CTU." Michelle waited, pausing for a moment before continuing. "Brad Hammond complied; it is believed that, whilst outer security and other areas were infiltrated by force, using breaching charges and explosive entry, these codes allowed the terrorists to access certain areas of the building, such as Tech 1, this room, and a number of other offices." This time, rather than stunned silence Michelle's announcement was met with chaotic chatter as everyone talked amongst themselves, unable to believe what they had heard. "If I could just have everyone's attention for another few moments please" Michelle said over the din. "The following audio file, was recorded when Brad Hammond believed he hade deactivated the surveillance equipment in holding. He had however, neglected our newest area of devices, this recorded dialogue should explain everything"

Michelle opened an audio file, and played it. At the same time, the screen showed a transcript of the dialogue between the two men.

Saunders: Now Mr. Hammond, do you remember a couple of days ago, I had that rather delectable Agent Michelle Dessler, kidnapped?

Hammond: Of course, what's your point?

Saunders: I wondered if you knew how we were aware of who she was?

Hammond: Agent Max Blake informed us, one of your men hacked the NHS database…

Saunders: No!! That's simply how we knew she was uninfected with the virus; we knew who she was because we had stalked Ms. Dessler and her husband in the couple of weeks prior to my operation.

Hammond: Is there a point to telling me all this.

Saunders: How's the daughter Mr. Hammond? You know the pretty little med-student.

Hammond: What? How in the hell do you know about my daughter.

Saunders: Just the same way we knew what Michelle Dessler meant to your CTU director.

Michelle deactivated the audio file "To save time we've cut out the part where Saunders tells Hammond of the attack and skipped straight to the recording of what he actually asked Brad Hammond do for him. I'll continue the playback now."

Hammond: What do you want?

Saunders: Simple, I want you to give my men the access codes for CTU, so that it will be easier for them to infiltrate the building. If you don't they will kill your daughter.

Hammond: I'm a sworn federal agent, I'm going to do my duty no matter what the…

Saunders: An admirable attitude Mr. Hammond. However, imagine how you will feel when they finally find your daughters body, and you know you could have tried to save her, but didn't…Nobody here need ever know what you did; as there will probably be no survivors. Do as I say and you daughter will live. Deny my request and you may not be able to stop the attack anyway and you will definitely lose your daughter.

Hammond: I have a sworn duty…

Saunders: But could you live with yourself if your daughter died? Patriotism and Duty are a belief and passion for a cause, just the same as I felt for my cause. But I caved when my daughter was threatened, I just couldn't put her after my cause, I just couldn't. You'll do the same Mr. Hammond. If you don't do what I ask, your daughter will die, and you'll always have to live with that. Losing your own blood would always be harder than betraying your country….It goes against instinct.

Hammond: How do I even know you're not bluffing?

Saunders: Fine you want more proof, your daughter is five foot five, has black hair and blue eyes, she lives with her boyfriend, who works as an EMT at her hospital. That's proof that we know who she is

Hammond: Fine…You win. I'll give you the codes, but you must promise to hold up your end of the bargain. I want my daughter safe.

Michelle stopped the audio file and the accompanying transcript faded from the screen, she watched round at everyone's reactions before continuing. "After obtaining this information, we cross-referenced with NSA's records of conversations and electronic correspondence between Saunders operatives. What we were able to obtain, would indeed suggest that, Roxanne James, had been abducted. Some of the intel pertained to information from a man who had been following her and observing her, right up until this morning, when the communications ended. Roxanne James' hospital reported she didn't show up for rounds this morning, even though her boyfriend insisted she left.

Division sent us Satellite surveillance data of Brand Hammond, leaving this building; we tracked him to a hardware store in the Hollywood Hills. We cross-referenced this information, with data from NSA. It matched an area that the cellular phone of one of Saunders' operatives was most recently traced to. Therefore, it is likely that she is being held in this location. I would surmise that the store is probably a front for Saunders operations, remember Saunders organization has to all intents and purposes, been a sleeper cell. Therefore, it is not entirely surprising that his operatives may have been running legitimate businesses and living amongst us for some time."

Michelle finished up knowing that they were running out of time and everyone was having difficulty processing what they had just learned as it was.

"Michelle" Agent Tom Baker began, "Are we going to try and save this girl?"

"Absolutely" Michelle replied firmly "With Saunders dead, the threat to national security from his potential escape is over. It's okay to use our resources to save this girl. It's a hostage situation like any other and right now no other protocols need priority."

Everyone around the room nodded before Michelle continued

"However, we will also need to find Brad Hammond and take him into custody. He provided Saunders' operatives with access codes for this facility. Had they been successful, they may have liberated Saunders and he could have gone into hiding and been free to start a whole new campaign against the United States. In that regard, Hammond put the country at an unacceptable risk. He committed treason." Michelle paused for a few moments, such a delicate matter needed to handled in just the right way; she wanted to gauge the general mood and feelings in the room before continuing. "Whilst many, if not all of us, may very well sympathize with the situation Saunders put Hammond in." Michelle swallowed and her eyes momentarily rested on Tony, who was clearly thinking the same thing she was, thinking of just a few days ago, when he nearly had to make the same decision. Michelle bit her lip and continued "It does not negate the simple and indisputable fact that he committed treason and betrayed the country."

Everyone around nodded.

"We need to think of who will be mounting this rescue operation, it's probably best that the team is as small as possible to attract minimal attention" Michelle stated.

"I'll go" Max declared

"Me too" Baker added.

Michelle thought for a few seconds, Max and Baker were more than capable of carrying out the rescue, but the thoughts of what Saunders had said his men would have done to her, kept playing in Michelle's mind. If Roxanne had suffered that kind of treatment, it might be ideal to have a woman accompany the two men on the mission to save her, if she was hysterical and distraught, as such treatment was likely to make her, she might respond better to a female presence.

"I think that I had better go too. We never know what might have been done to her by Saunders' operatives. It might be prudent to have a female presence. I'll make contact with the hostage the two of you can clear the building."

"Right." Both men said simultaneously.

Michelle headed off to get changed. Tony wanted to ask her not to go, but he knew there would no changing her mind and there just wasn't the time to argue. He had to let her go, albeit, entirely reluctantly.

It wasn't long until the three CTU agents were headed to the location.

Max turned to Michelle "I never realized Hammond had a daughter."

"Yeah" Michelle replied "She was actually a child from a relationship he had before he met his wife. Her mother died when she was a few years old and she came to live with her father. They were always close, despite the difficulties in Hammond's personal life" Michelle explained.

"You know I would never have thought Hammond had a soft side at all on account of him being such a jerk and all" Max replied. "Speaking of, I hear he told you couldn't resign, can he even do that?"

"Not strictly speaking no," Michelle answered. "However, he's very devious; he put me forward for a non contestable transfer. With that process already underway, certain protocols come into place preventing me from resigning. Even when I get to my new post it would be difficult to resign for significant length of time."

"I'm sad to say that I can see how that would make sense" Max replied. "Where is your new post?"

"Head of field-ops in Little Rock."

"Damn, field ops posts are awful. Look, I hold quite a bit of sway at Langley and various offices; I'll see what I can do. I can't promise anything, but there may be few people who owe me favors that are willing to help."

"Thanks, Max, I appreciate the offer. I don't want you to get into any trouble though" Michelle replied.

"It won't be any trouble," Max added. "As I said, there are a number of people who owe me. Anyway, we're here now."

Michelle climbed out of the SUV and checked that her silenced pistol was tucked into the shoulder holster hidden under her jacket. Max did the same. "Baker, you're with me" Michelle started. "Max, there's a chance they might recognize you so secure the perimeter and come in when we call." Both men nodded to indicate that they understood. "Ready when you are Michelle" Baker said.

"Okay let's go."

Michelle and Baker walked through the front door of the hardware store.

"Good evening" The man at the counter said to them as they walked in. "Can I help you? We are actually set to close to the public in about fifteen minutes, but if you'd like to browse until then feel free."

"Thank you" Michelle said. Just then she heard Max's voice come over the comm. in her earpiece. "Michelle, I'm at the rear of the store, infra-red showed three heat signatures in the store-room. I've put a optical fiber camera under the door, I can see the girl." Michelle didn't say anything; instead she walked up to Baker. "I'm sure they had what we were looking for when I was here before, perhaps they have one out back." She held his gaze on the final words, Baker understood what she meant. Michelle walked up to the man at the counter, who had been watching them, slightly on edge. "Excuse me Sir, I'm looking for a Power drill" She started "I'm sure you had the model I wanted a couple of weeks back, but I don't see it here now."

"No problem madam, I'll just go check in the store room." He replied before turning and walking to the door.

Very quickly Michelle came up behind and grabbed him, putting her left hand over his mouth and pressing her weapon against the side of his head. "I'm a federal agent; I'm here to rescue the woman you abducted this morning. I need to know how many men you have out back. In a moment I'm going to take my hand away, and you're going to give me my answer. If you shout or call for help, I will blow your brains out. Do you understand?" The man nodded, Michelle took her hand away "Well?" she asked

"Four men, two in the room with the girl, two in another, with her father."

Now that she had the answer, Michelle no longer needed this man. She slammed the butt of her gun against the back of his head, knocking him unconscious. She lowered, his unconscious form to the floor, not particularly caring if he got hurt, but rather, to reduce the amount of noise made by the man hitting the ground. Michelle then cuffed the man's wrists together behind his back.

Michelle spoke into her mouthpiece "Max, two tangos in the room with the girl, another two down the corridor with Hammond. Baker will take the other room; I'll take the one with the girl."

"Roger" Max replied.

Michelle headed on out of the room and was soon standing outside the door of the store-room. She quickly checked the infra-red feed on her PDA. There was one signature at the centre of the room, one towards the front and the other at the side. She guessed that Roxanne was the one in the centre. Michelle took out her knife and slid it down the side of the door; it made contact with two objects, indicating to Michelle that the door was locked. Michelle fished out several entry charges from her pouch and broke off a few pieces she pressed four pieces above and below the corners of the handle. Next she placed the small radio detonator, pressing the connectors into the putty like material of the explosives.

Michelle stood to the side of the door, with her back to the wall. She pressed the radio detonator and set off the charges. The door flew inwards with tremendous force, the whole area around the handle completely obliterated. Michelle entered the room quickly. She immediately saw one man and opened fire, double tapping him in the throat, he dropped to the floor. The other went for his weapon, but Michelle was far quicker firing a single round into the centre of his forehead.

She could hear gunfire at the other end of the corridor, soon Baker's voice came over the comm. "This is Baker, second room is secure"

It was all over in an instant. Michelle walked over to Roxanne who was shaking and nearly asphyxiating from the shock. She crouched down in front of the young woman and placed her hand on he shoulder. "Hello Roxanne," Dessler started. "My name is Michelle. Everything is okay, you're safe now."

The young woman nodded, but still hadn't calmed down. Michelle knew that there wasn't a great deal more to do at the scene and called it in. "Max, this is Michelle, I've secured the hostage. Call the med-evacs, we'll take her back to the Division clinic."

Baker came into the room. He called Michelle over. "What is it?" she asked as she walked up to him.

"I thought that given what the young lady has been through, arresting Hammond now wouldn't be prudent. If his daughter had to see that it could cause even more distress and right now that's probably the last thing she needs" Baker explained.

"That's actually a very good idea" Michelle replied.

"Hammond has agreed to accompany us back to Division. He's fully aware of the consequences of what he's done" Baker added.

"Right, we'll leave in a few moments" Michelle said.

She walked back over to where the young woman was sitting. "Roxanne, we're going to take you back to where your father works, we have people who can look after you there." She placed her hand on the young woman's shoulder and smiled at her.

Roxanne nodded "Thank you."

During this time, the rest of the CTU staff had all been moved to Division, as the damage caused to CTU during the assault was too great to run protocols as efficiently as possible.

Michelle accompanied, Roxanne to the clinic where the young woman was treated. Michelle stayed until the young woman had been sedated, in an attempt to let her rest, as she was too distraught to sleep naturally.

Michelle walked out of the clinic. She was desperately trying to control her emotions. Tony met her the moment she walked out. "Hey sweetheart" he started softly. "Ready to go home?"

Michelle nodded. Tony took her hand and they headed for the exit.

As she drove home, Michelle felt a wave of nausea and it kept getting stronger with each passing moment. She hadn't felt this way since her early field missions. As they pulled up at their house, Michelle ran inside, trying to make it to the bathroom, but failing. She threw up in the corner of the downstairs hallway. All of the adrenaline from the day's events had worn off and delayed shock was beginning to set in. It was a common affliction amongst field operatives; the body's natural responses to such traumatic situations couldn't be suppressed forever.

Michelle had experienced it a few times, although it had been a while since the last incident.

She felt Tony's arms wrap around her and he handed her a glass of water.

"Here honey, take this" he said softly. Michelle accepted the drink and gently sipped it.

"Thanks" she replied simply.

"Go get freshened up and changed. I'll clean this up" Tony told her softly, kissing her lightly on the top of her head. Michelle nodded and walked towards the bathroom.

Several minutes, later, Tony came and found Michelle; he walked her towards the bedroom and sat her quietly onto the bed.

She was in a real state, he held her close. Michelle snuggled in closer, enjoying the feeling of her husband's arms wrapped around her. Mostly, she wanted to cry, but this time she also felt and irresistible urge to vent. She felt angry and frustrated at CTU and all the despair it brought her, Tony and so many others like them.

Michelle took a deep breath and then let it all out. "I hate CTU; I hate what it does to people, sure we protect the country, but there's so much god damn misery in this job that I just can not do it anymore. Let's face it even though we're often very happy, our lives will never be completely content. This blasted life we chose won't allow us to be. I mean have we ever had a proper day off, one where we can just sleep in and relax for the day, not have to worry about the possibility of being called in when there's a crisis. That's just a small thing, there are big things too, even on the day of the god-dammed nuke, and more than once after that we couldn't call family. We could all have died and we would never have had a chance to say goodbye. I'm sick and fed up of having to be so bloody selfless and what reward does it even bring? None whatsoever… I just can't do it anymore." Michelle had hardly paused for a breath she was so worked up; as she let it all pour out. She started again "At the same time, though, I'm all too aware of how lucky I am, I survived the hotel, Gael didn't, nor did Mr. Phillips… They died in agony." Michelle stopped once more, this time the tears began to flow "I'm so confused, Tony, part of me feels fed up with never having to put, myself and us first, but at the same time. I know that I'm luckier than others; I got off lightly compared to some"

"Honey, you have hardly got off lightly." Tony replied softly. "You hardly slept at all last night; the nightmares from the Chandler Plaza are just beginning. The very fact that you think you got off lightly and are so confused and unsure right now, is proof of just how much you haven't left that place entirely unscathed. You're going through a terrible survivor's guilt. It's going to be tough putting it behind you Michelle. I won't beat around the bush on the subject, because, the simple fact is you are going to have a tough time of it for a significantly long while to come. I don't think that's getting off lightly, by anyone's definition." Tony caressed the bare skin of Michelle's back, the way he always would when she was upset.

Michelle nodded and sniffed a little before continuing. "I know that sweetheart, but I also know what you said the other night, that I will eventually get over it with time. And of course, you're right. But, then I think of Gael and Mr. Phillips at the hotel and of course poor Chloe, just this afternoon. They won't be back to normal in a few months, for the simple fact that they're dead. They're all dead, Tony. And dead is forever."

Michelle began to cry again and Tony just held her tightly. He knew that it would be a long time before the happy, cheerful, and quirky Michelle that he loved so much would be back. He also said a prayer that she wouldn't have to go to Little Rock.

After a while Michelle had no more tears to shed, but still sat staring silently into space.

However, despite the fact that both the Almeidas were aware that the road to recovery and being back to their old happy selves would be a long one, they also knew that their love for each other would ensure they would eventually get down it.

**Author's Note: **The chapter title is homage to the Season 2 finale of a British TV series called "Ultimate Force". I thought it was appropriate for the mood of the chapter, and Michelle's state of mind after all she's been through.


	9. Part 4 Chapter 1

**Authors Note:** _The title of this chapter is a homage to my favourite Star Trek movie, "Star Trek VI: The undiscovered country". When dealing with the uncertainty of the future, I thought that it was a fitting title. _

**Part Four: **

**Chapter 1:** _"The Undiscovered Country"_

Tony and Michelle both sat quietly, cuddling for a while. Michelle was reluctant to sleep; she knew that if she did the nightmares of the Chandler Plaza would come again. Right now there was not much more she wanted to say, but instead sat with her husband lovingly embracing her. It had been over three hours now, they both jumped when the phone rang, its shrill piercing tone breaking the silence. Tony picked it up.

"Almeida" Tony said robotically into the mouthpiece.

"Hello, Tony, it's Max" the voice on the other end declared.

"Max," Tony began, catching the attention of Michelle who turned to face him. "What can I do for you?" Tony asked

"I'd like for you and Michelle to come to Division right away. I have something important to discuss with the pair of you."

"What is it?" Tony inquired his tone curious.

"I can't say much right now, just please come to Division. It's fairly urgent." With that Max hung up the line.

"What did he want?" Michelle asked.

"He didn't give any specifics; he just said that he wants us to come to Division as soon as possible" Tony replied before kissing the top of her head.

"Fine, I'm not overly keen on sleeping now anyway so let's go." Michelle got up and went to her wardrobe. She pulled out a suede jacket, a white cotton t-shirt, and black jeans. She left her hair down. She helped Tony to dress, on account his wound. Tony had chosen a grey button up shirt with beige cotton pants.

"You look beautiful" Tony said softly, kissing the crook of her neck.

Despite how upset she was feeling that made Michelle smile just a little. Ever since the first time they went into work together Tony had never once failed to tell her how beautiful she was and how much he loved what she was wearing. She had in fact started wearing outfits she knew he would love seeing her in whilst at the office. The outfit she had worn while at CTU on the day of the virus was one she had bought to drive Tony wild.

"We better get going" Michele announced.

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Half an hour later the pair walked through the doors into Division. Max met them as they came inside. "Hey guys thanks for coming" he said.

"What's this about Max?" Michelle asked.

"I managed to pull in a few favours and get you out of that transfer to Little Rock, that's what this is about." Max replied with a smile.

"What?" Both Tony and Michelle said simultaneously, the complete surprise evident on their faces "How did you manage that?" Michelle finished.

"If you would come this way, I'll explain everything" Max replied, gesturing towards one of the vacant offices.

Max switched on the large plasma screen, and soon all three could see a video feed of a woman around Michelle's age. Max de-muted the audio and spoke to the woman on the screen. "Laura, this is Michelle Dessler" he announced.

"Hello Michelle," Laura began "I'm Laura Ryan, Special Agent in charge CTU-Little Rock."

"Hello" Michelle replied. "This is my husband Tony Almeida" she said indicating Tony. "Hello Ms. Ryan" Tony added

"Mr. Almeida" Laura said. "Okay, I guess you all want to know what I have to do with your situation. Basically, Max and I know each other from when we worked at Division in Las Vegas. He contacted my office to discuss your transfer and by lucky chance I got to hear about it and took his call. I only got promoted about ten months back so being undercover Max wouldn't have known that at the time. Now he told me that you don't want to go ahead with this transfer. Unfortunately, because your former superior, Brad Hammond made the transfer non-contestable, there would be difficulties in simply allowing you to pull out of it, at least not without causing Langley to start asking questions and implement their whole 'red-tape' procedural restrictions. However, Max and I believe we have an ideal solution."

"What is it?" Michelle inquired.

"Basically, I'm going to block the transfer, on account of you not being psychologically fit for the post upon assessment. It's probably a bit of an exaggeration, but when you consider the kind of effects that your ordeal in the Chandler Plaza Hotel will have had on you, it's not going to be too far from the truth. Therefore, it shouldn't raise too many eye-brows."

"Thank you so much, I really didn't want to have to take up that post. However, because of what Hammond did I didn't really think that I had much of a choice" Michelle replied, the relief evident in her voice and trying not to cry from the emotional intensity of the moment.

"You're more than welcome, and as I say it will be on record that your current psychological state means you aren't fit for the post, that will avoid any major problems with Langley asking too many questions about why you're not going to be transferred."

"Thank you again, it's wonderful of you to do this" Michelle added.

"Good luck Michelle, you're a credit to the job and I wish you and Tony the best."

With that Laura disconnected the line from her end and the video feed faded from the screen.

"Are you guys going to be okay?" Max inquired gathering together some of his things. 

"Yes, thanks to you we are" Michelle said giving him a hug.

"Hey you're more than welcome. It was so wrong of Brad Hammond to do what he did and I only wanted to help you out" Max answered putting a hand on her shoulder. He then turned his attention to Tony and extended his hand; Tony took it in his and shook it firmly. "I know that Michelle has already said it, but I have my own reasons to be grateful. Thank you for everything you've done for us over the past couple of days, especially for saving Michelle's life. I dread to think what might have happened if it weren't for you, but I doubt it would have ended well."

"Again, you're both welcome. It's been a pleasure working with you over the past couple of days. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a flight to D.C. tomorrow afternoon and I really must finish up here and go get some rest." With that Max bid them farewell and headed off.

"You ready to get out of here?" Tony asked Michelle.

"Yeah" was her simple response.

When they got out to the car Michelle put the keys into the ignition. However, she soon became aware that something was amiss with Tony. She turned to face him and soon realised what it was. He was sobbing, his hand was covering his mouth and tears were streaming down his face, his shoulders shook as he cried. Michelle shuffled over and put her arm around him.

"Hey" she softly whispered, "are you okay, sweetheart?"

Tony sniffled and turned to face her "Yeah, Curly-Head, I'm okay. It's just that I was so scared about you going to field ops in Little Rock. My god, Michelle I can't even describe how terrified I was at the thought of what might happen to you there. I also hated the fact that we would be so far apart. Now, all of that isn't going to be a problem, and we can leave CTU and be together. It's just so much to take in." He took a deep breath, and took her hand in his, squeezing it. "I'm okay 'Chelle. Let's go home and get some sleep."

Michelle nodded, started the engine, pulled out of the Division parking lot, and headed for home.

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It was two weeks later; Tony and Michelle were both at CTU again, as the office had mostly been repaired. During those two weeks however, tragedy had struck. Kim Bauer had died on the operating table, not long after reaching Cedars. Chase had called them to tell them the news the following day. Jack was too distraught over it all and no one had heard from him since. It was a truly dark and disturbing event, but it only served to reinforce the motivation the Almeidas felt to leave this job forever.

They had spoken with the Director of the CIA and told him of their intention to resign as agents; luckily he had given his blessing, mostly as a show of gratitude to Michelle for her exemplary leadership in the Chandler Plaza. Today would be their last day on the job.

Michelle already had an appointment with the CTU counsellor and would continue seeing her for as long as was necessary to get through all the problems with the aftermath of the events at the hotel.

Standing outside the door waiting for them was the CTU counsellor. "Hello Michelle, my name is Kate" she said shaking Michelle's hand.

"Hello Kate, it's nice to meet you. This is my husband, Tony" Michelle replied.

"Hi Tony" Kate said. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise" Tony replied.

"Look, I don't mind Tony joining you for sessions, in fact I'd encourage it as he's clearly someone who gives you strength and support so having him around would really help the therapeutic process. However, for the first two or three sessions I'd prefer if you were on your own, just whilst I get to know you and we get the ball rolling" Kate informed them.

"That's perfectly fine" Michelle said. She then turned her attention towards Tony. "Sweetie, you go finish up running the new Director through all he needs to know. By the time I'm done you should have everything completed and we can head on home." She took his hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Okay." Tony replied. "I love you 'Chelle."

"I love you too." With that Michelle turned and headed into the office with Kate and Tony headed over to his office.

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A couple of hours later, Tony came and found Michelle sitting in the break room. "Are you ready to head out of here forever, Mrs Almeida?" he said to her with a big smile.

"Sure, I've got all my stuff together and said my good-byes. Let's just go home and get some rest" Michelle announced. She stood up and wrapped her arms around her husband. "I just want you to know how much I appreciate you doing all this, making such a big change in your career, just for me. I also want you to know that the best thing that ever happened to me at CTU was meeting and falling in love with you. I may hate this place and this job now, and I despise the misery it has brought us and so many others, but it did lead me to the love of my life. For that reason and that reason only, it will always hold a special place in my heart, even after the past couple of weeks." Michelle kissed her husband and rested her forehead against his, gazing into his eyes.

Tony kissed her back, before replying. "That means so much to me Michelle. And just so you know, I have no worries about leaving this place so that we can start a new life together. You're everything to me Curly-Head. You're more important than this job, the country, my duty; there is absolutely nothing in this world that means more to me than you do. You're the best thing that ever happened to me, and I will always be grateful to this job for leading me to you."

They kissed again, and Tony took Michelle's hand in his and led them out of the break room. They crossed the bullpen, fully aware that all eyes were on them. Finally, making it to the elevator, the Almeidas breathed a sigh of relief, the awkwardness of their exit finally over. Getting into their SUV, they buckled up and headed out of the parking lot.

Passing through security for the final time, Michelle suddenly needed to do something. "Tony wait" she said. Tony stopped the vehicle and followed Michelle as she climbed out.

Tony walked up behind Michelle and wrapping her in his arms they stood and looked at the building where they had worked together for the past four years. It was where they had met, begun their relationship, and more often than was probably healthy, had come close to losing each other.

In that building selfishness was forbidden and the safety of millions of strangers both at home and abroad came before its employees and their families. It was a place where sacrifices were made, sometimes willingly and sometimes, more often than not, reluctantly. That was precisely why Tony and Michelle had decided to leave and never come back, they had had enough of that life. As much as they had believed in protecting the innocent, the things they had to endure in order to do so had become too much and they no longer wanted to be part of that world.

Neither of them really needed to speak in order to communicate what they were feeling at that moment. They had never needed to do so in order for the other to know what they were feeling. "Okay" Michelle finally whispered taking her husband's hand in hers and gently squeezing it, "let's go." She climbed into her side of the vehicle and Tony followed. They drove away, both unsure of what the future or the "undiscovered country" as it was sometimes termed might bring. However, the one thing they did know was whatever was in store for them, they would face it together. That was the one thing neither of them doubted as they drove home, leaving the Counter Terrorist Unit behind them, forever.


	10. Part 4 Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **** I have actually uploaded 3 chapters at once, so if you came straight to this one, you might have missed the other two. Start with "Chapter 8" from the drop down menu. **

This is a very long fluffy chapter, with lots of Tony/Michelle hotness and love, considering how fairly angsty the rest of the story has been, I figured it needed a chapter like this.

**Part Four:**

**Chapter 2- **_**"Love Prevails"**_

-5 Months Later-

Tony opened the front door of their house and walked into the hallway. From the living room he could hear Michelle laughing and it brought a huge smile to his face. Over the past five months with a great deal of therapy and his support, Michelle had begun to deal the physiological aftermath of her time in the Chandler Plaza hotel. It had been a tough and gruelling few months, and was a real test of their marriage.

_Michelle had not slept well, she was plagued by nightmares of the Chandler Plaza, people dying, her team, children, young couples and just about everyone else she saw meet their end in that place. She also had nightmares about her own death, but strangely it usually didn't involve the actual infection of the virus, but rather the aftermath of her passing, and how it affected Tony. There were also of course nightmares about her kidnapping by Saunders' men and everything associated with that. Some dark thoughts also caused her to dream of Tony going to prison for saving her life in a scenario where Max hadn't been able to intervene in her kidnapping. _

_She was fatigued and worn out, __with the sleep deprivation bringing the expected__ physiological__effects;__ she was eating less __which resulted__ in certain amount of weight __loss. In__ what might have been considered an ironic scenario, her immune system had __been weakened by all of this__ and she __had become__ more prone to any colds and bugs that were going round, as a result. _

_Michelle used to laugh so __much;__ she had a wonderful and quirky sense of __humour. It__ was one of the things that Tony loved most about her. However, during those few months she had been too distraught and traumatised to laugh much. _

_One of the major difficulties of the past few months had been Michelle's significant lack of interest in intimacy; they hadn't had sex since the night before the day of the sting operation. Tony fully understood and respected that Michelle just needed time. However, at the same time, he did feel a little hurt at her rejection, making love to his wife was one of the most wonderful things in Tony's life, and not getting to do that was a little __upsetting. All__ he wanted to do was to make her feel good and show how very much he loved __her. Whenever__ he tried to initiate such relations and Michelle turned him down, it tore his heart __out. It__ wasn't simply the case that he was frustrated at not getting laid. _

_There were times when she would just let him comfort her, allow him to hold her and reassure her when she was upset, or had woken from a nightmare. There were others when he knew he just had to give her space, sometimes she just needed to be alone. It was a balancing act that he __came__ to accept and respect, no matter how much it pained him to leave her be. And ultimately, she would more often than not come and find him after a while anyway, often giving in to the need to be comforted by his loving embrace and soothing words. _

_There had been so many conflicting __emotions during__ those several months that it had been a tough time for both. _

_However, that did not mean their__ love for one another had diminished in that time, on the contrary, working through the problems together had made their bond stronger __than__ ever. Complete happiness may have been scarce in their lives during those few months, but love was there in abundance. _

_Michelle had her reasons for all this behaviour of course. It wasn't that she didn't want to make love to her husband on the contrary, she felt the exact same way as Tony, having sex with the man she loved was something wonderful that she truly treasured._

_However, whenever Tony seemed to be taking things in that direction, Michelle felt strangely guilty. She felt as though she didn't have the right to enjoy all the pleasures of life. __The survivor's guilt she felt was overwhelming which made embracing any such joys of life feel wrong; especially__ when so many others were no longer able to, or when their loved ones were still feeling a deep lingering grief. _

_That survivor's guilt also accounted for much of why she didn't laugh or make jokes as much as she used to. Michelle felt wrong for doing things like that when so many had perished or had their lives destroyed in that hell, that she had somehow survived. _

_Particularly difficult for Michelle__ was the fact that her team had gone into that Hotel due to her idea and her urging. Even though it hadn't been an outright order, Michelle still knew that if she hadn't made that suggestion there was a chance they'd have waited for NHS to get there and would all be alive as a result. _

_However, for the past few weeks she had been __improving. Her__ sleep pattern had become more __regular as__the nightmares were becoming less frequent__ thanks to the techniques employed in her __therapy and__ of course the support of her husband. The therapy had helped her to deal with the guilt she was feeling at __surviving and she__ had gradually begun to accept that it wasn't wrong to embrace the chance that fate had given her to continue living her life to the __fullest.__ For the first time in__ ages__Michelle __had become flirtatious with her husband, the level of physical affection she showed him had become more intense, she'd not felt the same guilt of the past few months if he caressed her sensually and intimately, and she was less hesitant to return such affection. She had smiled and laughed a lot more, especially in Tony's company. _

_Today__ had been her last therapy session __and Michelle__ had insisted that Tony go into work and not be there to support her like he so often would. She told him that as things were now being wrapped up in terms of her treatment, she really didn't need him. However, that had really been a ruse. Her session had ended earlier than she told Tony and __Michelle__ had spent the rest of the morning shopping and preparing a special evening for them. _

Tony was home for lunch, having spent most of the morning at the office of their new security company and going through the recruitment process to hire staff. Even with everything they had been through the one thing Michelle had insisted on was kicking things off with regard to starting their company as soon as possible, so for the past six weeks they had been working to get everything organised.

Tony walked into the living room and found Michelle watching some DVDs.

"Hey sweetheart," he announced, kissing her lightly on the lips.

"Hi Babe" Michelle replied giving him a huge smile and standing up, wrapping her arms around her husband and pausing the DVD.

"What are you watching?" Tony inquired.

"Father Ted" Michelle replied, referring to the British/Irish sitcom that she became a fan of through relatives in the UK and Michelle had bought the complete series box-set. "It's the episode where Father Ted is accidentally offends the Chinese community of Craggy Island" she added.

"Oh yeah, that's a good one; I love the part with the hamster going across the floor on his bike" Tony said.

"Yeah" Michelle replied giggling. "Anyway, how did it go this morning?" She inquired putting the TV into standby.

"Good. There have been one or two promising candidates" Tony replied

"Which ones?"

"After lunch I'll show you" Tony replied. "I'm famished right now."

"Okay" Michelle smiled.

Once they had both eaten, Tony produced a couple of files which Michelle read through. "I agree, they sound great." She looked over at her husband who was smiling, seemingly lost in thought "What is it?" Michelle asked him.

"I'm just remembering the day George and I interviewed you for CTU" Tony replied. "When you walked in, I couldn't believe my eyes. I had never seen anyone more beautiful in my life." Tony said, blushing slightly.

"Yeah, right!" Michelle replied. "You're just saying that to see if flattery will result in you getting lucky" she finished teasingly.

"No!" Tony replied firmly. "I really mean it!"

Michelle looked at him; she found the genuinely wounded look on his face, at the thought that she might doubt the sincerity of his loving compliments, to be rather adorable.

"Hey," Michelle began, "I was only joking." She kissed him several times on the lips. Then she shifted position, straddling him. "Hello there" Tony said, trying to keep his tone serious and hide his amusement.

"Hi, yourself" Michelle replied giving him a wicked grin.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Tony asked, intentionally avoiding eye-contact and pretending to be more interested in the paperwork he was reading.

"We're going to have sex tonight" Michelle said completely casually.

Tony just about choked on the tea he was sipping "What?!" He blurted out, completely shocked at the way, Michelle had just dropped such a statement into their conversation without warning.

"You know, sex!" Michelle replied. "Where you take that thing." She added, pointing south of his belt "And you put it…"

"Yes!!" Tony said cutting her off. "I know what it means" he finished, his voice filled with well meaning and light hearted sarcasm "It's just hearing you say that came a little out the blue" Tony started. "Seriously, Curly-Head, give me some freaking warning when you're going to do that" he finished, finding it harder to stay serious.

Michelle just looked at him, and then she put her mouth to his ear, and whispered. "Now, you just sit and relax and I'll tell you all the things that I'm going to do to you when you get home tonight." Michelle said, with a naughty grin. She then proceeded to tell Tony in erotic and explicit detail, leaving nothing to the imagination, all of the things that she had in store for him when he got home that evening. Her tone was seductive and aroused and her breath was hot. Tony was ready to crawl out of his skin with all the emotions he was feeling. He was so happy to see Michelle acting like this; she was truly back to her old self again. And of course very excited by the words she was whispering.

Michelle finished her erotic and explicit descriptions and kissed him firmly on the lips, loving the happy and excited expression on his face. "I guess you liked the sound of that" she said, cocking her head to one side, with a slightly ditzy expression and wiggled her eyebrows ridiculously at him. Tony smiled at seeing how much her quirky sense of humour had returned.

"Is that a trick question?" he replied with a huge grin.

"Well of course it is, Almeida" Michelle said in mock irritation. "I'm sitting firmly in your lap, straddling you. Believe me; I'm all too aware of how much you liked the sound of that."

Tony gave her a naughty grin, before sliding his hands under her tank-top; he was just about to let his hands wander, when she slapped them away. "Easy Tiger" Michelle said, trying to keep serious, but the amusement nevertheless evident on her face. "Save it for tonight" she finished, smiling wickedly at him.

"But I want you now!" Tony pleaded, with mock sadness.

"Geez, get a control of yourself you sex addict" she replied rolling her eyes in mock irritation.

"Aw come on..." Tony pleaded "Besides, you started it. You know you want me too."

"Oh, Yes, I do want you baby, so bad" Michelle replied, her voice seductive, her breath hot. "But it will be so much more special if we wait until tonight. I have something very special and romantic planned for us" she finished, looking deep into his eyes, making Tony melt at seeing the intensity of the passion and love shown in hers. He was so happy that her eyes showed such emotion again, they had been empty for so long, and Michelle with empty, cold, eyes, wasn't right.

She was the light-hearted, quirky one; the one who could be serious, focused even mildly detached at work, but outside of work and at home she was the one who acted the fool, who made him laugh with the simplest of gestures, was affectionate and expressive in her love. She was the light of his life. Yet, for so long since that fateful day, she wasn't much like her old self. The memories and the ghosts too haunting for her to truly be the person she always was.

But, she was now. She had gotten through it, dealt with it, but not forgotten it. She would never and could never do that, however, it was behind her, and she had moved on.

That made him deliriously happy; he was delighted that she had returned to her old self.

"Okay" Tony finally replied. "Besides, I have to get back to the office, the rest of the interview panel and I need to talk things over."

They both stood up, Tony hugged Michelle tightly, and gazed into her beautiful eyes, running his fingers through her hair. "My God, I love you" he sighed "I love you so much 'Chelle." He nuzzled her neck and took a few seconds to savour the sweet smell of her skin; he was so content in her presence, so happy when he held her in his arms.

"I love you too, Tony" Michelle replied. She sighed contentedly, when he slid one hand underneath the back of her tank-top. He gently caressed her back whilst nuzzling her neck and whispering beautiful, loving words in her ear. She absolutely loved the way he was so affectionate with her, so expressive of his love for her.

Michelle had never been with anyone who treated her quite like that, not until Tony. It hadn't taken long in their relationship, before he started to be that affectionate. Even now, over three years later, she was still as completely overwhelmed by it, but in a good way.

It baffled Michelle, how some women could feel "smothered" as they would so eloquently put it, by this kind of affection from a man. She could never believe her luck that she had found someone who treated her so well. She had been in relationships before where the man wouldn't be anything like the way Tony was.

They didn't whisper beautiful words, or touch her so affectionately. Well, certainly not with the wonderful, passionate intensity that Tony did. And he didn't do it, for the rather selfish reasons, of trying to get 'one thing' from her. It was truly about making her feel good, to make her feel loved, to show his utter devotion. The sincerity of which was shown in his eyes and something she could never doubt. It was one of the reasons she loved him so much, he treated her like a goddess. She felt so loved and adored by him.

Michelle kissed him passionately, pulling his head in with her hand; he did the same, placing one hand at the side or her face, lightly stroking her cheek with his thumb. As they broke the kiss, Tony, tugged on her lower lip the way that he always would. Even that morning after the Nuclear Bomb had gone off, when they shared that first kiss in the corridor of CTU, he tugged on her lower lip. And he never failed to do so every time after that.

Resting her forehead against his, gazing into his eyes, Michelle smiled happily; she nuzzled his neck, and whispered into his ear. "I love you, Oh sweetheart, I love you so much".

"I love you too" Tony replied, kissing her a couple of more times before turning and heading for the door. Walking after him, Michelle held onto his left hand with both of hers. He turned and looked over his shoulder at her "Text me when you're leaving the office and I'll make my final preparations" Michelle whispered seductively

"Okay, I will" he replied.

"I'll be waiting on you, Lover" Michelle added, her tone even more seductive and clearly aroused.

Michelle waved, at him as he headed out. Tony closed the door behind him, taking one last glance at his beautiful wife. He headed to his car, already grinning like an idiot, eagerly anticipating what was in store for him when he got home that night.

Michelle turned and headed down the hall, deciding she would work out for a while and go for a run. Unable to stop smiling, she too, couldn't wait for Tony to get home that night.

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As he left the small office of their company, Tony fished out his cell-phone and sent his wife a text message to say that he was on his way home. He tried his level best not to let his imagination run riot as to what she had in store for him, and what they were going to do when he got home. He most certainly didn't want to be distracted from the road by dirty thoughts. He chuckled to himself at the mental image of telling a Highway Patrol Officer, what he had been thinking about instead of concentrating on his speed limit, or what side of the free-way he was on, in the event of an accident.

Climbing in, he gunned the engine, and headed out of the lot.

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Michelle headed into the bedroom as soon as she'd received the text. She knew she'd have just enough time to take a quick shower, and get ready.

Once showered, Michelle emerged from their on-suite bathroom; she smiled to herself as she admired her naked body in the full length mirror. She was so confident about her beauty, and felt so genuinely sexy. Mostly because of the beautiful words Tony whispered to her, and just the way that he looked at her.

She took pride in her appearance, and her body. She worked out frequently, went for a run as often as possible, and also went swimming, and she had a very fit well toned physique as a result. Michelle thought for a moment about being totally naked when she greeted Tony as he came in. She knew he'd love that, and she'd love doing it for him. However, in the end, Michelle decided to go with the original plan. She had gone to special efforts that day and was not about to let them go to waste. Michelle opened some of the shopping bags she had brought home that morning and took out the sexy lingerie. Going over to her wardrobe, Michelle picked out one of her favourite robes, well it was probably more accurate to say that it was one of Tony's favourite robes on her, and that's why she wanted to wear it tonight.

Putting on everything she needed to wear, Michelle picked out one of her CDs and put it into the player. She then fished out the necessary items to add one last romantic touch to their evening.

Confident she was ready; Michelle went to the living room and awaited Tony's arrival.

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Tony walked through the door to find the lights dimmed and candles lining the corridor and stairs towards the master bedroom. He could hear soft romantic music playing. Grinning, he advanced down the hall, but suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks as Michelle walked out of the living room and stood against the door frame.

Tony's jaw promptly dropped to the floor, she was wearing a silk robe with oriental dragons on it, the background was red and the dragons were gold in colour and the robe had a black trim the belt was also black. It was one she had picked up when they had visited her relatives in Japan on their first anniversary. It suited Michelle perfectly. The design enhanced her exotic beauty; the creamy skin-tone that was a result of her mixed heritage, her deep, dark almond shaped eyes, and her thick mass of reddish brown curls, all added up to make her a very sultry, sexy woman, thus the sultry design of the robe complimented her beauty perfectly.

Tony was rooted to the spot, staring at her. Michelle smiled sweetly at her husband and advanced towards him. Still he remained motionless, feeling his face flush a little; as his heart rate began to quicken. He could feel that he was already becoming aroused… It still amazed him to this day that she could do that; she could excite him so easily and so quickly. The attraction he felt toward her was stronger than he had ever felt for anybody else. There had been times at CTU, even before they got together, where he wondered if she knew just what she was doing to him standing so close, allowing him to smell her perfume, feel her brushing against him and her breath on his neck. It had accounted for a large part of the slight awkwardness he felt in her presence, such as the time when they practically collided after he got up from his station, just after she had told him about the inter-agency announcement, the morning of the nuclear bomb threat. Michelle was able to drive him absolutely crazy with desire with seemingly little effort.

Finally, Michelle reached him and whispered "Hey."

"Hey sweetheart" Tony replied, the then proceeded to take her into his arms and kiss her deeply. He pushed her lips apart with his tongue causing Michelle to moan and open her mouth to receive it. Intense tongue play followed before Michelle finally broke off the kiss and let them both up for air. Tony nuzzled the crook of her neck, closing his eyes and taking a few minutes to enjoy the sweet smell of her skin. "I love you" he sighed softly into her ear.

Michelle beamed happily at those words. Before pulling out of their embrace she took both of his hands in hers and looked into his eyes. "I know I haven't been much of a wife to you in the past 5 months..." Michelle began, but was cut off by her husband. "Hey" he started releasing his hands from hers and taking her face into them. "Don't you dare say that, you have always been and always will be a perfect wife." He paused for a second looking into her eyes to ensure that his words sank in. "Nothing will change that, not even the way that these past few months have been so tough."

Michelle smiled sweetly at him before replying "Okay, perhaps it was a poor choice of words, but my point is the same, the past few months haven't exactly been as good as we're used to, and it has been so long since we made love, because of the way I've been. I want tonight to make up for the way things have been for the past five months, for the times I've been cold, distant, or however I was. I know you understand my reasons for being that way, and that you aren't bitter or angry about it, but I still want to do this. I want tonight to be a happy loving night, a memory we'll treasure. I want it to be really special for us both" Michelle finished pressing her lips lightly against his.

"Okay" Tony replied simply, gazing longingly into her dark almond shaped eyes.

Michelle nodded and turned around, "Come on" she whispered softly and seductively before taking his hand in hers and leading him towards their room.

As they walked in, Michelle stood by the bed and waited for Tony to close the door.

The room was bathed in candlelight and there was a bottle of champagne on ice on the bedside table. The bed-sheets were brand new, red satin ones; the same soft romantic music was playing.

"Wow" Tony exclaimed "You didn't have to do all this 'Chelle, it must have taken you ages to set up."

"I know," Michelle replied. "But I wanted to" She added with a dazzling smile.

"Hey, I'm not complaining" "When's the champagne for?"

"For afterwards" Michelle started before continuing with a naughty grin. "But, before, then, you can use some of the ice on my naked body if you want" Michelle threw him a wink and giggled.

Tony beamed happily "It's so good to see your sense of humour back, 'Chelle. I haven't seen you so happy in a long time, and that means everything to me."

Michelle just smiled and blushed a little, "Come here" she whispered holding out her hand. Tony took it and pulled her in close to him. He pressed his lips to hers, and soon they were both lost in passionate tongue play. Tony broke off the kiss and nuzzled the crook of her neck again. He then rested his forehead against hers, gazed into her eyes and said softly, "I love you, Curly-Head, you're my whole life, there is nothing in this world more precious to me than you are. Even in the past few months my life has been better than it ever was before I met you. I don't know what the future has in store for us, but there is one thing I can be certain of, and that's the fact that I will love you more with each passing day. I adore you my perfect wife." He untied her robe as he spoke letting it fall to the floor. He stepped back for a moment, and was in awe, Michelle stood before him in red lace bra and panties, which she had purchased especially for that night.

Tony scanned her body, her well toned stomach, soft smooth slender legs. Her hair was down, and her luscious curls fell across her shoulders. Her beautiful dark almond shaped eyes, sparkled with happiness and were filled with passion, love and desire. It was the exact same passion, love and desire that he felt for her.

Soon intense foreplay began. With Tony making sure Michelle felt as good as possible. Tony gazed up at her, seeing the love and adoration in her beautiful dark almond shaped eyes, and knowing it was a look saved only for him, made him feel a mixture of love, excitement and flattery all at once.

He whispered beautiful loving words into her ear, "You are so beautiful, so sexy, and so perfect, I just can't find the words to tell you how stunning you are." Then he smothered his wife's lips with his own.

As their loving foreplay continued, Michelle knew that he was touching her in a way that only a lover would. The utter patience and devotion put in to pleasuring her, was almost an act of worship, something that could only come from true love and adoration. That knowledge made the emotions Michelle was feeling as intense as the physical pleasure coursing through her body.

It wasn't long until Tony's attentions had achieved the desired result. Once she had managed to catch her breath, Michelle whispered "Oh my God, Tony that was amazing, I love you baby" she sighed with delight, looking over at him, with a loving smile.

Tony took one look at Michelle and smiled; he ran his hands across her naked body, paying extra attention to her breasts, before moving downwards, stroking her inner thighs and then working his way back up again.

His eyes, filled with the lust and desire that he felt for her, hungrily scanned her body. Tony sighed contentedly at the sight of his incredibly beautiful wife, whilst running his hands across her, "My God, you are so beautiful, the most beautiful woman ever to grace the Earth. You have such beautiful, luscious hair and the most entrancing dark eyes." Tony placed several kisses on Michelle's soft full lips, and looked lovingly into her eyes, as she smiled up at him, before he continued "Such soft smooth skin, these perfect, round, soft, firm breasts." Tony grinned at Michelle half adoringly, half cheekily, before once more lavishing her breasts with kisses. Finally, he worked his way lower and spoke again "You have an amazingly well toned stomach, a wonderfully feminine hourglass waist." Tony moved lower still, his touches becoming even more intimate, making Michelle feel fantastic.

Soon the foreplay changed to blissful, slow and tender love making. For a short while they both lay perfectly still, gazing into one another's eyes, not moving, choosing to relish the intimacy of their union itself.

This moment was wonderful for both of them, their union, made them feel connected spiritually as well as physically.

For Tony, it was a pleasure that just five months ago he had feared he would never experience again. Being intimately joined with his beloved now, was almost like a wonderful dream but it was the knowledge that it was in fact, reality, which made it all the more delightful.

Being able to enjoy this pleasure in life, made them both realise that after all the hell they had been through in the past several months, they were still there for each other.

Whilst they made love Tony started to whisper beautiful, loving words, whilst his hands caressed every inch of Michelle's body "My beautiful Michelle, I love you so deeply. I've never loved anyone as much as I love you. I adore you more each day; I know the reason that I was put on this Earth was to love you. You make my life complete."

Michelle was too overwhelmed by the intense physical pleasure surging through her body and the emotional bliss at the loving words her husband was whispering to respond verbally. However, everything Tony needed to know was shown in her eyes, and they expressed more than words ever could.

The physical pleasure she was feeling along with the joy at the beautiful, loving words he whispered, made her realise just how much he loved her. The pure love she could see in his eyes, the way in which he spoke to her, the way that he looked at her and the way that he touched her reminded her of just how precious she was to him.

Michelle felt wanted, loved and needed by this man. And knowing how strongly she returned those feelings, made her think that maybe, just maybe, it was okay to be happy and grateful she had lived. And that embracing all the joys of life wasn't wrong.

Soon they both went over the edge together, neither having experienced such intense satisfaction and pleasure before, even in all the time they'd been together. It was probably a combination of all the emotions they were feeling that made it so special or maybe it was something else. Neither really cared about the reasons, they were just revelling in how overwhelmingly good it had all felt.

The afterglow of their lovemaking was always special for both of them, however, tonight it was even more so. It was the serenity that made it so much better than normal. After the hell they had been through in the past five months, the things they had been through, the sites they had seen, lying together now, tenderly caressing one another and their bodies still tingling after their intense and satisfying lovemaking was blissfully calm and peaceful.

Michelle reached over for the champagne and poured them each a glass, proposing a toast in the process. "To us, and our future together, may it be happy, prosperous and filled with love" she declared.

"To us" Tony replied simply as they clinked their glasses together and they took a sip. "The rest of it will happen, I guarantee it. Our future will be wonderful, you mark my words." He paused to just nuzzle his wife's ear and the crook of her neck. "Oh, I love you, Michelle" he sighed. "I love you more than I could ever adequately tell you."

Michelle turned to kiss him, her beautiful dark almond shaped eyes filled with love and adoration. "I love you too sweetheart" she replied. They kissed several more times. The couple remained snuggled up together, Tony stroking and caressing Michelle all over, as she rested her head on his shoulder, with her back pressed up against his chest. " 'Chelle" he began.

"Yeah?" she replied softly

"Err… What do you think about us err…um…" Tony said, fumbling for words and clearly blushing. Michelle turned around to face him and cocked her head to one side, with a huge smile "Why are you going shy on me?" she asked him sweetly "I'm your wife. What could you be too embarrassed to talk about with me?" She finished teasingly, knowing full well that even after all this time together, Tony would often get like this; it was, in fact, one of the very things she loved about him.

"Err…um…what…what do you think about us trying for a baby?" he said still blushing

"You mean right now?" She said teasingly "It's only been fifteen minutes, you may be good, but even you can't rise to the occasion again that soon" Michelle giggled.

"No. I don't mean right now" Tony replied in mock irritation "But soon."

"Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it traditionally supposed to be the woman who gets broody?" Michele continued to tease him.

"And you wonder why I was a bit shy to say it." Tony told her. "I'm being serious, 'Chelle"

Michelle smiled at him and rested her hand on his cheek "Okay, teasing aside. Tell me what's on your mind."

"I was thinking about our future and everything" Tony started.

"Go on" Michelle said encouraging him

"And I just realised that if there's anything this past year has taught us, it's that life is short and you never know what tomorrow might bring."

"So you think that we should start trying for a family as soon as possible?" Michelle inquired.

"Well probably not straight away, considering everything else that's going on with the company and such, but perhaps a year maybe two" Tony replied.

"I'd agree with that, this is a pretty big gamble we're taking so I'd prefer to wait until we have some financial stability before thinking about brining a baby into the world" Michelle replied. "Also, I'd quite like the idea of having a couple of years where it's just the two of us, without CTU always hanging over us. I want us to have weekends away, holidays etc, you know the kind of things most couples do together in the first few years of marriage, but we never did because of our jobs" she added.

"You have a point there. CTU did limit what we could do in our time off" Tony agreed. "It would be nice to have some time to spend with just each other."

Michelle smiled at him and snuggled closer. "But now that we're on the subject, how big would you want our family to eventually be?" Michelle asked. "I don't think we've ever really sat and had a full, no holds barred discussion about trying for a baby, or having a family in general. It was always something put very much on the back burner because of the nature of our jobs."

"I don't know for sure, in all honesty, I think that decision should mostly be yours, it's your body after all. It's you who will carry them, so how many we have is up to you" Tony replied.

"I was thinking maybe two, preferably one of each. But as much as I appreciate your gesture to leave the decision up to me, you have a say in this too. You're my husband and I love you. If you want more than two children, I'd be delighted to give them to you." Michelle beamed happily and kissed her husband several times.

For a few moments Tony nuzzled the crook of her neck, and then eventually replied. "That's sweet of you. Actually I think that two children would be ideal. I'd certainly love to have a son, but so long as they're healthy, I'd be happy."

For a few more minutes he and Michelle tenderly kissed and caressed one another.

"We'll talk about it even more when we think it's time to start the ball rolling" Michelle said to him.

"Now, I don't know about you but I'm famished. Do you want to order some take out?" Michelle asked.

"Sure, how about.." Tony started, but Michelle cut him off.

"Chinese? I bet that's what you were going to say." Michelle giggled.

"Maybe I'd have said something else" Tony replied rolling his eyes.

"Come on sweetie, you were going to say Chinese" Michelle continued to tease him, giggling all the more, but throwing her husband a wink.

"Fine, you're right, I was going to say Chinese" Tony relented, pretending to pout.

"See I told you. You're so predictable, Almeida. I can read your mind."

"Oh can you?" Tony asked her, then suddenly, without warning, pushed her down onto the bed and pinned her. Tony then began to tickle Michelle mercilessly, causing her to laugh so hard she could barely breathe.

"Funny, you didn't predict that I would do that" Tony grinned at her.

"Stop it, Tony," Michelle just about managed to get out. "I mean it, Almeida, let me go this instant" Michelle said in between fits of the giggles, pretending to struggle but really enjoying every second of her husband's playful show of affection. Eventually Tony let her go. Michelle looked up at with a giant smile, and for a few minutes they just lay caressing each-other and kissing tenderly.

"Come on honey" Michelle said sitting up, "Time to order some food." She walked across the room. Michelle looked over at Tony who was ogling her naked form. "Like what you see Almeida?" She asked teasingly "Hell yes" Tony replied with a giant grin. "You have a killer body; you're so dam sexy" he added with a wink. Michelle blushed a little as she retrieved her panties and wiggled them on. She then slipped her robe back on and turned to face Tony. "Come on lover" she said with a smile. Tony nodded and climbed out of the bed. After quickly getting dressed, he joined his beautiful wife who was leaning against the doorframe waiting for him. "And I was enjoying watching your naked body" Tony said pretending to sulk. Michelle giggled "Well later you can do more than just look at it" she whispered seductively. "But right now, I need to eat".

Tony put his arm around her and they made their way down to the living room.

Michelle phoned in their order and 20 minutes later, Tony answered the delivery man who had brought it. It wasn't long until the Almeidas were enjoying their meal, constantly flirting with one another all the while.

Once their meal was finished they migrated to the living room. "Do you want to put on a DVD, sweetie?" Michelle asked.

"Sure" Tony said "How about some _CSI_?" he grinned.

"Oh great have you ogling Sara Sidle, that's just what I need for a romantic evening." Michelle replied in mock annoyance.

"Oh whatever" Tony grinned.

Michelle winked at him and whispered "Just kidding babe" before walking over to the tall rack that held just part of their DVD collection.

"Which Season?" she asked looking back over her shoulder at him.

"Maybe Season 1 and Season 5" he replied.

"Okay" Michelle said before fetching the necessary box-sets. She brought them over "Well, which episodes?" she asked.

Tony grinned "'Sex, Lies and Larvae' from Season 1 and then 'Nesting Dolls' from Season 5."

Michelle rolled her eyes. "Why am I not surprised?" She said trying to stay serious, but her smile obvious to see on her face nonetheless. "You and your Sara Sidle obsession, Mr. Almeida" she added with a wink and a smirk.

"Well they are some of her best episodes" Tony replied chuckling to himself.

Michelle put the disk with "'Sex, Lies and Larvae'" into the machine and selected the episode from the menu. They sat on the couch and snuggled up with each other. "I love you 'Curly-Head" Tony whispered nuzzling the crook of her neck briefly.

"Here comes your favourite scene" Michelle announced indicating the scene where the characters of Gil Grissom, Sara Sidle, and Jim Brass were processing the home of suspect Scott Shelton. After a few minutes Shelton grabbed Sara's arm roughly, making her lose her cool and push him off of her furiously, needing to be held back before she totally lost it.

"I have to admit" Michelle started "I do love how strongly Sara is written and portrayed; her feisty attitude is so much more realistic than the weak damsel in distress you usually get on TV."

"Yeah, that's why I love her. Sara is complex and engaging. She can handle herself, not at all the dull stereotypical weak woman many female characters in TV and movies are" Tony agreed. "I also love how passionate she is about her job and gets angry when justice isn't served. So refreshing to see a female character made to be so intriguing" he added.

"Agreed, it's awesome to see" Michelle commented.

"Plus she's just hot as hell" Tony said with a grin, causing Michelle to nudge him in the ribs and smirk a little.

They soon swapped disks so that they could watch the next episode. Michelle giggled at the scene where Sara answered back to her superior Conrad Ecklie "You know she may be the only _CSI_ in the lab who doesn't take crap from that guy. He reminds me so much of Brad Hammond, such a bureaucratic jerk."

"You see" Tony started when the scene with Sara revealing her life long dark secret to Grissom came on, "This is what's so great about this show, it took them five years to reveal that, real good 'slow burn' storyline, showing how great they are at character development."

Soon the second episode was over. Michelle kissed Tony several times before getting up and heading for the kitchen to make a pot of tea.

"'Chelle wait" Tony called "Look at this news report."

Michelle turned round and looked at the screen. It was about their former boss, Brad Hammond, who had been on trial for treason for his actions five months earlier. Even though they had been called in to testify at in the early stages of it, with everything going on in their own lives recently, Tony and Michelle had completely forgotten that his trial should be reaching a conclusion any time soon.

The Fox News reporter announced:

"_The treason hearing against Bradley Hammond, the former federal agent who was coerced into helping a terrorist cell infiltrate a secure government building, was brought to a close today with the defendant being sentenced to death. Mr Hammond provided codes to terrorists who assaulted __CTU-Los Angeles__, to liberate their leader Stephen Saunders. Saunders was the man behind the release of the Cordeilla Virus at the Chandler Plaza hotel 5 months ago and the assault on CTU was part of an elaborate plan to take him from __custody__. Mr Hammond provided the terrorists with the access codes for the CTU building in order to save his daughter who Saunders' men had kidnapped. In doing so he put the country at risk from Stephen Saunders who would most likely have __continued to threaten__ the US had his liberation been a success.__Hammond__, selfishly put his daughter's life ahead of national security, and consequently was convicted of treason against the United States. He was taken into federal to remain on death row until his execution."_

"Death penalty is a bit harsh" Tony said "He was only doing what any man in his position would have wanted to."

"That's probably true" Michelle commented "He was doing it to protect his daughter, who must be devastated by this. But even though, I don't think I'd go so far as to say I want him dead. Neither, can I bring myself to be totally sorry for him, not after everything he has done to us." Michelle paused for a while, to gather her thoughts, there were so many conflicting emotions at this news, she wasn't entirely certain of what she thought. "I just keep thinking when I was kidnapped by Saunders. I guarantee you, Tony; Hammond would not have hesitated for a second to send you to prison if you had been forced to choose me that morning, had Max not saved my life. And don't forget he wanted me transferred to field-ops in Little Rock. After the way he's treated us, you especially, and how he's constantly tried to tear us apart since we announced our relationship, we don't owe him too many of our sympathies" Michelle said sternly but not angrily.

"You do have a point about that," Tony said "I'm not sure this news, has gone so far as to have seriously upset me, but it does make me feel a _little _sad" he finished

"Me too," Michelle replied "Still though, my main point is he wouldn't have sat feeling sorry for you, if the roles were reversed and you were being sentenced to death today. As awful as the situation he was put in must have been, I don't think that you should forget how far up his own ass Brad was when slapping you down when you sometimes followed your heart and not your duty." Michelle finished, sitting on the armrest next to her husband, running her fingers through the back of his scalp, the way he always loved her to.

"You're right," Tony admitted "but I still think they should have gone for a lesser sentence, life without parole, 20 years, anything but execution. No matter how he treated us, when he made that decision that afternoon it was as a father. But enough about him, Hammond and CTU are out of our lives so let's change the subject."

Michelle nodded in agreement and placed a quick kiss on her husband's lips. "I'll go make the tea, then we can put on a movie for a couple of hours" she announced.

"You want to choose this time?" Tony asked.

"Maybe, we'll see" Michelle said.

She soon returned with the tea and poured some into Tony's, square shaped, spotted mug. She had bought him the mug one Christmas, thinking that he would hate it. In fact he loved it, it was his second favourite after his Cubs Mug, largely due to the fact that she had bought it for him, but also because it looked so different from everything else they had at home, and the staff at CTU had in the office.

"Okay, we watched CSI because you wanted to," Michelle grinned. "My turn to chose a DVD." She put the _CSI_ box-sets back into the rack and picked out a movie she wanted to watch, aware that Tony probably wouldn't want to. "_Captain Corelli's Mandolin!"_

Tony pretended to moan "Why do you we have to watch that?"

"Because it's my choice sweetie" Michelle replied, in cute, slightly ditzy voice before putting the disk in the machine. She walked back over to the couch and snuggled up into Tony's arms.

"I'm just teasing you 'Chelle," Tony said. "I don't care what's on so long as I can hold you in my arms like this." He nuzzled the crook of her neck and caressed her. "I love you so much, Curly-Head" Tony sighed taking in scent of her thick mass of reddish brown curls, as he ran his fingers through them.

"That's really sweet, Almeida" Michelle replied, kissing him several times. "And seeing as you like running your hands all over me so much, I'm going to make it even more fun for you" she added in deep seductive tone. Michelle slipped her robe back off knowing that her husband wouldn't be able to resist running his hands all over her naked body. Tony wasted no time at all, soon his hands were wandering all over Michelle's body causing her to sigh with satisfaction and contentment, happy to be touched in such a deeply affectionate and intimate way by her husband.

The couple continued to watch the movie, although Tony was for the most part, more interested in watching his beautiful wife.

When the movie was over, the pair snuggled up with each-other and started making small talk. "It's a shame that Jack withdrew so much after Kim's death" Michelle commented. "I don't think he's spoken to anyone since."

"Yeah" Tony agreed. "I think that goes to show what CTU can do to people and why it's so good that we got out of it."

"True, it's an awful tragic turn of events when a man accidentally kills his own daughter in a fire-fight, and breaks contact with all his friends because he's so overwhelmed with grief. It makes me realise how fortunate we were that day. I'm so glad we left CTU. I know I'll never regret it, not with knowing how much happier our lives are going to be away from there" Michelle commented.

"That's so true. Everything bad that happened that day really changed our priorities for the better. We had spent long enough doing our duty and it was time for a change" Tony added.

"Yeah, I think as much hell as we went through; the one good thing to come from it all was that it gave us the conviction to finally put our relationship, each other, and ourselves first for once. I doubt we'd have been able to continue there, without something truly devastating, that would destroy us, eventually happening. What happened to Jack is proof of that" Michelle said rather solemnly. "But we've talked about all that so much in the past few months, let's change the subject."

For a while they talked about anything that came to mind, sports, celebs and any other cheerful subject.

Tony soon began to place kisses all over Michelle's body, causing her to sigh with satisfaction. She turned and gave him a naughty grin. "How about some more sex?" Michelle whispered seductively.

"Do you have to ask?" he replied cheekily.

Michelle giggled at that and stood up. She grabbed his hands and pulled him closer to edge of the couch, getting him just where she wanted him to be. This time it was Michelle's turn to initiate some very intense foreplay, spending a long time giving her beloved husband intense pleasure. Tony loved the things that his wife was doing to him. The devotion she put into giving him intense physical pleasure made him feel special and loved. The actions were erotic, but the love behind them was pure and innocent. After what seemed like a blissful eternity, their foreplay turned into intense lovemaking; with Michelle in control and putting a lot of her efforts into making her husband feel good, returning the favour from several hours earlier. She knew just how to pleasure him, years of being together made her instinctively aware of how to touch him, the rhythm to use in their lovemaking that would give him the most pleasure. The words she whispered were a mixture of erotic, explicit, romantic, and loving. Michelle knew her words would excite Tony and turn him on even more, as well as make it clear how she felt about him. She gazed into his eyes throughout their lovemaking, intensifying the intimacy that was always like soul searing electricity between them.

It wasn't all that long until Michelle sent Tony over the edge, and she didn't stop until everything had subsided. When it was all over, she relaxed against him; he embraced her tightly and caressed her body, whispering beautiful words in her ear, as they once more enjoyed the afterglow of their lovemaking. "You are the best thing that ever happened to me" Tony sighed contentedly. "I can't even tell you how much I love you" He looked into her beautiful, dark, almond eyes and traced his fingers along the light freckles on her nose. "I love you so much, Tony" Michelle replied kissing him tenderly, her eyes showing true, pure and tender love. "Thank you for all the support you've given me in the past several months; I couldn't have done it without you" she said firmly, placing one hand on his cheek.

Tony nodded in acknowledgment but added "I'm your husband and you're my wife; it's my job to help you through the tough times." He kissed her several times and continued "Curly-Head, there is nothing in this world that is more important to me than you are. You are my whole life, your happiness and well being comes before anything. And nothing, absolutely nothing whatsoever, is more precious to me than you are." Michelle felt herself getting misty eyed, overwhelmed by the words he spoke to her, and the sincerity in his eyes when he said them.

"I know, but there must have been times when I wasn't the easiest person to have to live with. I'm sure there were times that I yelled at you or pushed you away a little. But you stuck by me, and I'd just like to thank you and show my gratitude for being so patient."

"Don't mention it" Tony said simply, before adding with a naughty grin "and I think you've shown your gratitude more than once tonight."

Michelle smirked and slapped his arm. "Sex maniac" she giggled causing Tony to laugh as well. "Seriously," Tony started "you don't need to apologise for how you were sometimes or say thank you for my standing by you. You had your reasons for being that way and I understand. But you've gotten through it and managed to put it behind you; I'm just glad that you're happy again"

Michelle didn't need to say anything more, she just nodded enthusiastically. Standing up, she held out her hand to him "Come on babe, let's go to bed, I'm beat."

Tony smiled and stood, "Okay, so long as I get to snuggle up with you."

"Always" Michelle replied simply.

"Good, because I can't sleep without you wrapped tightly in my arms" Tony added with a big smile and blushing slightly. Michelle just gave him a wink and led him to the bedroom.

Once there she changed into a black lace night gown that she knew drove Tony wild. She pulled back the covers and climbed, in. Tony was quickly getting changed. He turned and looked at his wife. "Damn you are so sexy" he sighed.

"Come on Lover," Michelle smiled at him and patted the bed. "Snuggle up with me so we can get some sleep."

Tony smiled at his wife and did as asked. He climbed into bed, and immediately she spooned him into her. Wrapping his wife snugly in his arms, Tony slid one hand underneath her nightgown and tenderly stroked her back. Michelle let out a contented and happy sigh, relaxing as she enjoyed her husband's tender affections and was soon fast asleep.

Tony reached over momentarily and tapped the bedside lamp a couple of times, dimming it. Whilst Michelle might have been a woman heavily trained in unarmed combat, a gutsy federal agent well versed in the use of several weapons, and field techniques in general, she had a lifelong fear of the dark. At least that was the best way to sum it up; she wasn't morbidly terrified of it, just made her very uncomfortable and un-nerved.

So ever since being a child, she had always slept with the light on, albeit a very dim light, but one on nonetheless. Tony remembered when she had first told him, she was worried he'd laugh at her, or think less of her. On the contrary there was something about it he found adorable, and was flattered by the idea that he was the only person in the world who knew about it.

That train of thought caused Tony to reminisce about his and Michelle's history and their lives together.

He remembered when they had first moved in together, and when he had bought these bedside lamps.

_It had been a long day at CTU, but neither of them had wanted to put off finishing moving their stuff into the house they had bought together, just after their engagement. They were just about done, after a week of gradually transporting stuff from their respective apartments; Tony had put in two regular bed side lamps. Michelle realised that the main light in the room, couldn't be dimmed, however, she insisted that it didn't matter and that it was about time she tried to get over her silly phobia anyway. _

_Tony would hear none of it, and immediately set out to the store to buy some bedside lamps that could be dimmed. Even though he still hadn't eaten much and was tired from the long day, not __to__ mention that by the time he got there, only ten minutes were left until closing time. The store's staff weren't all that happy, but Tony didn't care. That night would be his and Michelle's first night in their first home together __and__ he was going to make sure his fiancé felt as safe and secure as possible. _

Tony loved Michelle more than anything; he would do anything to protect her, and make her feel safe. He knew that morning had Max not saved Michelle; he would have chosen to comply with Saunders to save her. No matter how "selfish" it may have been considered, he didn't care. He loved her too much to put anyone or anything else first. So, it was little wonder, that he would never have thought less of her for being scared of the dark; everyone had something they were scared of, even his strong, courageous, and gutsy wife.

Also, Tony had his own fears. He never really liked the absolute quiet and silence, he didn't like being in an empty house. Never in his life had he felt as safe as when he was in Michelle's arms and holding her close to him. When she wasn't around he would often stay up watching DVDs or TV until fairly late, as he hated lying awake in total silence, knowing no-one else was in the house. He also had the same cuddly toy from when he was a kid, a fact that Michelle found to be incredibly sweet and cute. The toy, a stuffed pig to be precise, still sat on the chair underneath the window, where he laid his clothes out every night.

Michelle and Tony had always felt comfortable sharing such little secrets with each other. They each knew that the other wouldn't judge them for it, or make fun of them, even though there might be a little light-hearted and well meaning teasing about it. They hadn't felt like that with the other people they had been involved with.

When Tony had told Nina about "Piggy" she had scoffed and contemptuously told him he was pathetic and to grow up.

If Tony was to be honest with himself, Nina had always been chipping away at his pride and confidence. He had pretty much wanted out of the relationship by the day of the events surrounding Palmer anyway. Ultimately, it was the thought that such an unpleasant relationship had all been a lie the whole time, which really hurt him upon discovering Nina's betrayal.

Whereas, when he told Michelle about "Piggy", she told him she found the idea adorable. And that there was something sweet and pretty sexy about a grown man, who wasn't too "macho" to admit to such things. Michelle loved Tony with all her heart and soul, a trait like that was part of who she loved, therefore, she could never find fault with it.

Generally, Michelle was the total opposite of Nina in almost every way. There were some things they had in common; both were highly intelligent, strong and courageous. No matter what Nina had done, no one could take that away from her. However, those were about the only things she and Michelle had in common.

Tony's mind drifted back to when he and Michelle first met, to those early days of working together where the sexual tension between them was indescribably intense.

_Tony remembered that for the couple of months between when Nina had been arrested and when Michelle was __hired. He__ had hated coming into work, mostly because he knew so many people were talking about him. _

_He had considered phoning in __sick the__ day that he and George would be conducting interviews; such an event would only draw all the more attention to what Nina had done to everyone, and of course to him. He thought he would then hand in his resignation a few days later. For some unknown reason though, he had decided against it. The first couple of candidates had been men, and they had been relatively impressive. Michelle, the third candidate's resume, was infinitely more impressive than those of the two men. That worried Tony a little, the last thing he wanted was new woman around the office. However, when Michelle walked in all dread at the possibility of her being hired, vanished. She was so beautiful, Tony was in awe. She was professionally dressed in a Navy Business suit, and silk blouse. With her hair tied up leaving, several curls framing her __face, her__ dark almond shaped eyes showed total confidence and self assuredness. Somewhat involuntarily Tony smiled broadly at her, his eyes sparkling, and just sat __staring__ at her. Michelle caught his gaze and smiled back in a genuine, sweet, and friendly way, making him blush feverishly, clearly, catching George's attention, who had made one his trademark sarcastic comments about it afterwards when they were alone. _

_Every day, going into CTU after Michelle had started working there, was enjoyable. Tony had quickly come to enjoy the friendly banter that passed between them, when first arriving each morning or in the break-room. He also loved to discreetly ogle her, but there were a few times she'd catch him looking, especially in meetings, and when she did she would often give him that same smile she had at her interview, and it nearly always elicited the same response. It was such situations that Tony had been referring to when commenting to Michelle "there's been something hanging between us since you started here" when he spoke to her about asking him out, on the day of __the nuke_

Bringing his thoughts back to the present, he lay for several minutes watching his wife sleep, mesmerised by how beautiful she was, and how peaceful she looked. Tony felt so grateful he hadn't called in sick that fateful day four years ago or handed in his resignation. If he had, he never would have met Michelle at her interview, and would most likely have been gone by the time her first day rolled round a fort-night later. In staying on at CTU, he had met the love of his life, and was enormously grateful to the job for that.

For several more minutes, he continued to watch her, and then he snuggled closer, holding her in his arms. "I love you Curly-Head" he whispered softly into her ear, even though he knew she wouldn't hear. Closing his eyes, soothed by the feeling of Michelle's warm body against his, Tony was soon in blissful contented sleep.


End file.
